


Love of Puyo Puyo Tsu

by TheBlackKid



Series: Love of Puyo Puyo (Original Versions) [1]
Category: Puyo Puyo (Video Games)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Humor, Teen Romance, some sexual humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-06-24 16:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 120,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15634734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBlackKid/pseuds/TheBlackKid
Summary: A boy with a strange red hand, a girl from another world, Lidelle's relation to hell, and...summer jobs? Amitie and Raffina deal with those things and more as they set their sights on entering high school.





	1. Encore of Puyo Puyo

**Amitie’s POV**

 

“Come on, Mom! Of all days, you can’t sleep in again!”

“ _Just give me five more minutes, Ami._ ”

“You said that five minutes ago!”

“ _I did? Okay…how about four more minutes?_ ”

I grabbed my pillow from my futon and repeatedly hit Mom in the head with it.

“Ow! **OW!** Okay, okay, I’m up!” Mom shouted as she grabbed my pillow and threw it across the room.

“Geez, Mom. You said you’d start waking up on time from now on.” I said.

“I said I would _try_. I didn’t say I’d be successful at it.”

* ** _sigh_ ***

“Why so frantic this morning, anyway?” Mom asked.

“Don’t you know what day it is?”

“May 31st. Why?”

“Mom, today’s the last day of school. We’re throwing a party to celebrate us going to high school next year, remember?”

“Huh? O-Oh, yeah! I remember! Congratulations, Ami!”

"Thanks. Now can you get ready, please? We're supposed to pick up Raffina and Lidelle on the way there.”

“Alright, Alright.” Mom said as she got up from her futon. Around the same time, Ally came out of the bathroom after taking a 30-minute shower.

“Ah, so refreshing.” She said while drying her hair.

“You were in the shower the whole time?! What were you doing?!” I asked.

“Something that helps us girls feel good.” Ally said with a wink.

I didn’t know what she was talking about at first, but after giving it some thought, I figured it out. And was extremely embarrassed for doing so.

“ **EW!** Gross, Ally! Why would you do **THAT** in the shower?!”

“Well, where else could I do it?”

“ **DON’T ASK ME!!!** ”

“Why are so embarrassed, Ami? It’s completely normal for girls your age to do that.” Mom added.

“ **DON’T SIDE WITH HER!!!** ”

“Just saying.”

 *** _sigh_ *** “Geez, you two. Can we go now?” I asked. I’m already exhausted for the day and we haven’t even left the house yet.

“Yeah, sure. Just let me freshen up a bit.” Mom said.

"I've already freshened up." Ally teased with another wink.

“Shut up, Ally.” I said.

 

A few minutes later mom was finished getting ready. And by “finished” I really mean all she did was change her shirt. Mom’s really lazy when it comes to fashion. We then left the house and Mom drove the car to the meeting spot where we were supposed to pick up Raffina and Lidelle. When we got there, I couldn’t hold my excitement anymore.

“ **RAFFINA!** ”

“ **AMITIE!** ”

I jumped out the car and hugged Raffina as tight as I can possibly can. I felt Raffina do the same. After a few seconds of nuzzling each other, we both looked at each other’s eyes, inching our faces together preparing our lips to meet once more. As our lips were about to make contact, though…

“Hey! Earth to Amitie and Raffina! We’re going to be late for school!” Lidelle shouted trying to get our attention.

“H-Huh?” We realized what we were doing and broke off our attachment.

“S-Sorry.” We both said while being mildly embarrassed.

“Aw, come on, Lidelle! I wanted to see them make out!” Ally complained.

“ **WE DON’T MAKE OUT!!!** ”

“Why would you want to see that?” Lidelle asked.

“Who wouldn’t? And besides, I might want to try it sometime.”

“Y-You would?!”

“Yeah, why not? …Hey Lidelle, why are you blushing?”

“N-No reason.” Lidelle’s face was bright red at this point. “C-Can we just go now?”

“Yeah, yeah. Get in.” Mom said, pointing her thumb inwards signaling us to get in the car.

Raffina’s been taking over Amira's shifts at the jewelry store due to Amira constantly studying for her final exams at the college. It was really difficult having to go to school without her. I mean yeah, Lidelle, Klug, and Ally were there, but not being with your girlfriend for that long really takes a toll on you.

“Hey, is Amira going to be done with her finals today?” I asked Raffina, still snuggling up against her.

“She should be.” Raffina answered, still doing the same to me. “I know how you feel, Amitie. I’ve missed you a lot too.”

I looked up at Raffina and gave her the sweet, passionate kiss on the lips that Lidelle interrupted earlier. I felt her lips return the force I was giving, and it ended up feeling like we were fighting for dominance or something like that.

“Aw, geez. There they go again.” Lidelle said trying not to stare.

“They’re totally making out!” Ally said doing the exact opposite.

We broke our lips apart to see that everyone else was staring at us, which left a bit of embarrassment on our faces.

“S-Sorry, again.” We both said.

“Don’t be, Ami. I had a good time watching.” Ally said.

“That’s a very creepy thing to say, Ally.” Raffina said.

“And perverted.” Lidelle added.

“Trust me, guys. I’ve known Ally for years. You’ll get used to it.” I said.

"Hey, that reminds me of the time Ami first heard one of Ally's perverted jokes." Mom joined the conversation. "Her reaction was hilarious! I think I have a picture saved on my phone!"

“Mom!” I yelled.

“Ooo! I remember that! It **was** hilarious! Do you think you send me that pic, Melody?” Ally said.

“Ally!” I yelled again.

“Sure thing! I’ll send it to you when we get to the school.”

“Awesome!”

I slammed my head on the back of the front seat, wanting this car ride to end already.

“I’m so sorry, Amitie.” Raffina said while hugging me.

“Yeah, me too.” Lidelle added. “You used to only have Melody tease you all the time. But now it’s her _and_ Ally.”

“It’s okay, guys. Like I said before, you’ll get used to it…hopefully.” I said nervously.

Please to God let me be right.

 

After the car trip from hell, we finally made it to the magic school. The four of us got out the car and stood outside the entrance gate.

“I’ll be back in about an hour or so. I have to meet up with my publisher real quick.” Mom said.

“Okay, Mom.” I waved over to her as she drove off.

Us four girls entered the school and headed for the classroom. There we saw Klug, who was early as usual, sitting on his desk reading a book.

“Morning, Klug.” I said cheerfully.

“Ah, salutations everyone. Nice day,

Ever since the party for my birthday 3 months ago, Klug’s been keeping his promise on turning a new leaf, well…trying to. He would sometimes revert to his old self, but he says it just happens sometimes, which is completely understandable. It’s hard to change your personality so suddenly.

"Hey, Klug! Take a look at this!" Ally said while giving Klug her phone. Klug scrolled through Ally's phone while she was telling him where to go. I already knew what Ally was trying to show him, and it made me both mad and scarred at the same time.

"Uh…what am I looking at, Ally?" Klug asked while staring at the picture of me with a confused look on his face.

“Ami’s reaction when I told her a perverted joke. Want to hear one?” Ally asked.

“No. No, not at all.”

“ _Aw_. You’re no fun.”

“I’m not sure how being perverted can be fun.”

“It isn’t.” Me, Raffina, and Lidelle retorted at the same time.

“Good morning, kiddies!”

“Please take your seats, meow.”

It was during that time Ms. Accord, along with Popoi, walked in the classroom. We each sat at our desk and class began.

“Well, as you all know, this is the last day of school. After today, I won’t be your teacher anymore.” Ms. Accord said while trying to hold back her tears.

“It’s okay. Popoi’s here for you.” Popoi tried to comfort her.

“I still don’t understand why you can’t just come to the high school with us.” Lidelle said.

“I wish it was that easy, Lidelle. But the principle here is rather stubborn. He won’t let me leave even if I gave him a thousand reasons.

“Y’know, I’ve never even met this principle guy the whole time I’ve been here.” I said.

“None of us have. That stuck-up geezer never leaves his office from the start of the day until the end.” Raffina said.

“Not once has he ever greeted his students that come to this school.” Klug added.

“Wow. This guy sounds like he’s total crap.” Ally said.

“You could say that.” Popoi agreed.

“Anyway, let’s forget about that and spend our last day together as a class, shall we?” Ms. Accord suggested.

“Yeah!” We all agreed and our final class with Ms. Accord began.

 

An hour into the lesson, there was a disturbance coming in to join us.

“Hey-o, everybody!” It was Mom, who slid the door open as hard as she could while greeting everyone.

“Mom, what are you doing here? School isn’t over yet.” I asked.

“Well, after I visited my publisher, I got bored, so I came here.” She explained.

“Huh. Back then when you were bored you would try to _leave_ school instead of coming to it.” Ms. Accord said.

“That was different, Accord. Nowadays, I’m full-grown, mature adult.” Mom said that while pounding her chest like she was proud of herself for saying that.

“Full-grown, yes. Mature…far from it.” Popoi said.

“Hey! Who asked you?!” Mom sounded while being slightly insulted.

I giggled at what Popoi said about Mom, mainly because it’s 100% true.

“Hey, Ms. Accord. Didn’t you say earlier that you and Melody were classmates in high school?” Raffina asked.

“Oh. I’m surprised you still remember that. Yes, we were. Why, what about it?” Ms. Accord asked.

“I was just wondering why Melody still calls you by your last name.”

“Oh, that. That’s because she forced me to keep calling her that.” Mom answered.

“So, you know her first name then?” Lidelle asked.

“Accord’s first name? Of course, I do! It’s Ha…”

“Okay kiddies, class is over!” Ms. Accord said while shoving her wand in Mom’s mouth.

“ _Aw_ , what? Come on! I wanna know!” Ally wined.

“I admit, I want to know as well.” Klug added.

We all looked at Ms. Accord, who then looked at Popoi with an unsure look on her face.

“Just do it, meow. It would be a good send-off present for them.” He said.

“ _sigh_. Alright. I’ll tell you.” Ms. Accord said while taking her wand out of Mom’s mouth.

We were all excited to hear this. Normally, Ms. Accord would never tell us anything that had to do with herself or what we were going to do in class. So this was a rare moment for us.

“My first name…is Harmony.” She said.

“ **WOAH!!!** ” Needless to say, we were all shocked.

"Good for you, Harmony! You've finally revealed your true identity!" Mom said with a thumbs up.

“Don’t push it, Melody.” Clearly, Ms. Accord was still embarrassed about telling her students something personal about her.

“Wait. Harmony and Melody…I think I’m starting to get why you kept it a secret.” I said, putting two and two together.

“Yes. I was afraid that our other classmates would think that we’re sisters, so I went by Accord the whole time.”

“Still don’t see how being my sister would’ve been a bad thing.” Mom said.

“Melody, no offense, but at the time EVERYTHING about being your sister would’ve been a bad thing.”

“Wow. So cold.”

“I said no offense.”

“Yeah, but still.”

I again giggled at what was said about Mom, mainly because it was again 100% true.

“Anyway, we still got another 2 hours before school lets out. So just go sit at the window over there and don’t do anything distracting.” Ms. Accord said.

“Sure thing…Harmony.” Mom replied.

“You’re enjoying this way too much.”

“Just like old times, huh?”

I’m starting to feel sorry for Ms. Accord for having to deal with a younger version of Mom for 3 years.

 

**Raffina’s POV**

 

After school today was definitely one of the hardest moments of my life, as me and the others had to say goodbye to Ms. Accord for the final time. There were some tears, mainly from Amitie and Lidelle, but it was definitely understandable. I almost cried myself. Ms. Accord has been my teacher since I was 5 years old. Back then, it was just me, Lidelle, Klug, and Tarutaru. So it was easy to bond with her. But now that we’re leaving her behind while we go on to high school, it’s going be a little hard to cope with that feeling of emptiness for 3 years.

 

After we said our goodbyes, Klug said he had to go help his dad out with something, so he had to leave. He said he’ll still come to the party later. In the meantime, it was just the five of us riding in Melody’s car heading for the sweets parlor to meet up with Lemres for party planning. On the way there, we started reflecting on times spent with Ms. Accord as our teacher.

“Y’know, even though I’ve spent the least time with Ms. Accord being my teacher, I’m going to miss her.” Ally said.

“Yeah, me too.” Amitie agreed. “We did so much fun stuff together as a class.”

“Yeah, but you got to admit that flying cane stunt was kinda pointless.” Lidelle added.

“Yeah, true. Having to go all around town looking for it, only to find out it was just another one of her surprise tests was a huge letdown.” I said.

“Ha! That sounds just like her!” Melody said.

“What do you mean by that?” Amitie asked.

“She may not look like now, but when we were in high school, Harmony had a huge imagination. She would read so many books that she would sometimes imitate the adventures in said books.”

“Ms. Accord?! Adventurous?!” The four of us said in shock.

“Yep. And it was fun to watch too. I would go with her just to film her doing such things, much to Popoi’s disapproval.”

“So she had Popoi during high school too?” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah, but his personality back then was no different from how he is today.”

“Did you know about the secret?”

“Of course I did. In fact, it’s how we met. It wasn’t that hard for me to figure out that it wasn’t ventriloquism.”

“Did anyone else know?” I asked.

“No. The rest of the class were too oblivious to the whole thing. Although, there was one other girl who knew.”

"What happened to her?" Ally asked.

“After we all graduated, she ran off to follow this guy she fell in love with. Haven’t seen or heard from her since.”

“Wow. Talk about determination.” Amitie said.

“Yeah, it’s something.”

 

After a few more minutes of driving, we’ve reached the sweets parlor and Amitie and Ally ran inside like they were little children.

“ **SWEETS!!!** ” They both shouted.

“H-Hey! Don’t run inside!” Lidelle said walking in after them.

I was about to walk in with them, but then Melody grabbed my arm and held it with a good grip.

“H-Hey, Raffina. Can I talk to you for a sec?” She asked while looking nervous, which was not like her at all.

“Uh…sure, Melody. Is something wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing wrong. It’s just there’s something about Harmony and me that I purposely left out.”

“What do you mean?”

Melody looked very uncomfortable trying to get what she wanted to say out of her mouth. It got me really worried for what she was about to say.

“…It was during the aftermath of the assaults…” She said.

 _daughter_ no less! From what I’ve heard, he was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. I hope his death is slow and painful!

“M-Melody. You don’t have to do this…” I said, trying to comfort her.

“It’s okay, I’m fine.” Melody said. She took a deep breath and continued.

to say at a motel. We were there for a month, and during that month Ami went through severe depression. She wouldn’t eat, she wouldn’t leave the motel room, she would just spend days in bed crying her eyes out to the point of them swelling up. It was a horrible sight.”

“Yeah. I know how you feel.” I agreed.

“Eventually I convinced her to go to a therapist to talk it out, and the therapist said that the city we used to live in was nothing but a field of nightmares for her. I felt so horrible. I felt like I failed as a mother by keeping my only child safe. I knew I had to fix everything, but I didn’t know what to do. So one night, when I was sure Ami was asleep, I called Harmony, and told her everything that happened.”

“So…that means…”

“Yeah. The job, the house, Ami’s enrollment in the magic school. Harmony did all of that for me. And although I’ve been truly grateful for what she did, I haven’t told Ami.”

I was shocked after hearing all of Melody’s confession. To think that she sacrificed so much just to make Amitie happy again. She really is a caring mother, but just has an odd way of showing it.

“W-Wow. Melody I had no idea…”

“Yeah. Which is why I’m telling you, Raffina. Please, whatever you do, don’t tell Ami!”

I didn't know what to do. I want to help Melody out, but at the same time, I don't want to keep any secrets from my girlfriend. But in the end, I had to make a decision.

“…Okay, Melody…I won’t tell her.” I said.

“ **OH, THANK YOU, RAFFINA! YOU'RE A LIFESAVER!** ” Melody shouted while hugging me real tight.

“But please promise me that you’ll tell her yourself eventually. I don’t like keeping secrets from people.”

“Uh…sure. I-I’ll try.” Melody looked unsure when she said that, but at least she’ll try to.

After the unexpected but very knowledgeable talk, we went inside the parlor to meet up with everyone else. Lidelle and Ally were already eating ice cream that they picked out with Lemres, while Amitie was waiting near the counter.

“Hey, you two! Where did you go?” She asked as she walked up to us.

“I just had to ask Raffina something. Nothing to worry about, Ami.” Melody said.

“Mom, when _you_ say that, all I ever do is worry.”

“Hey!”

“She’s right, Amitie. There’s absolutely nothing to worry about.” I said.

“Well…okay. If you’re saying the same thing, then it must be true.” Amitie said as she hugged me.

"Ah, geez." Melody walked up to the counter sounded insulted that her daughter had to get confirmation from someone else to prove that she was right.

“So, what happened? How come you’re not eating anything?” I asked her.

Amitie started blushing a little. I haven’t seen her do that since before we started dating. Almost forgot how cute it was.

“I-I…I wanted to pick out something with you.” She said. “I-Is that a bad thing?”

Now I was the one blushing. “N-No, of course not. In fact, I find it sweet that you did that. Thanks, Amitie.” I said. I then gave Amitie a quick kiss on her lips, which made her giggle a bit.

“Hey, you lesbos! Do you want some ice cream or not?” asked Amira, who was also there helping Lemres out with his sweets making.

“Seriously?! Why do you keep saying that word?!” I asked, clearly angry that she keeps doing that.

“I just like to see you react to it.” Amira admitted.

"Alright! My girl!" Melody said as she gave Amira a high five.

“Melody and Amira seem to be getting along.” Lemres said, witnessing the whole thing.

“Trust me, Lemres. That’s a bad thing.” I said.

“Hey!” Both Melody and Amira shouted.

“Come on, Raffina! Let’s go get some ice cream!” Amitie said, pulling my arm in the process.

“Alright, alright.” I said as I was dragged to the front counter where Lemres was at.

After we picked out and ate our ice cream, our small little group got down to business on planning for the celebration party later today. I don’t know how it would turn out, but with Amitie by my side, I honestly couldn’t care less.

 


	2. Visitor From a Strange World

**Amitie’s POV**

 

“ **GAH!!!** Ami why is this game so hard?!” Ally asked in a fit of rage.

“It’s not hard, you just suck at it.” I said.

“ **Hmph**. Says you!”

 

It was the day after the celebration party. Raffina and Lidelle stayed the night over because it was super late by the time the party ended last night. Right now me and Ally were playing a video game, Lidelle and Mom were making breakfast, and Raffina was sitting next to me, watching us play. Based on the confused look on her face, I can tell that she isn’t a gamer.

“Uh…Amitie, what game is this?” She asked.

“Only one of the best games ever made: ChuChu Rocket!” I answered with glee.

“What?” I think the name alone made Raffina even more confused.

“Seriously? You’ve never heard of ChuChu Rocket? It’s a puzzle game.”

“That cheats.” Ally added.

“Again, Ally. You just suck at it.”

“Whatever.” She pouted.

“Anyway, it’s a puzzle game where you have to guide these space mice called ChuChus to their rocket by changing the direction of the arrows.”

“I see.” Raffina said.

“All while avoiding the KapuKapu.”

“The what?”

“The space cats.”

“Amitie…this is a weird game.”

“If you think my game is weird, then you haven’t seen Ally’s favorite game.”

“What game is that?”

“Space Harrier.” Ally answered.

“What?”

“…You don’t play video games, do you?”

“No, not really.”

“Figures as much.”

“Hey, guys. Breakfast is ready.”

Lidelle called out to us from the kitchen while carrying a tray filled with plates and cups. Behind her was Mom with the food. Waffles and pancakes, bacon and eggs, tons and tons of biscuits; It was like I was in an IHOP or something.

"Woah! Look at all this food! It looks **SOOO** good!” I said.

“Well, all I did was the bacon. You can thank Lidelle for everything else.” Mom explained.

“Wow, I didn’t know you can cook, Lidelle.” Raffina said as she was fixing her plate.

“Yeah, well it’s one of the requirements of being a shrine maiden, so I had to learn at a young age.” Lidelle said.

“Wait, Lidelle… **YOU’RE A SHRINE MAIDEN?!** ” Ally shouted with food in her mouth.

“Ally…don’t talk with your mouth full.” I said, wiping the food particles off the table.

“Yes, I am. It’s a lot of hard work, especially in December.”

“Right. Because of Christmas and New Year’s.” Raffina said.

Lidelle did a slight nod, confirming that Raffina was right.

“Man, despite being a 15-year-old girl, you sure have it tough, Lidelle.” Mom said. “I wish I can work that hard.”

“Didn’t you just finish writing a light novel, Melody?” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah. Oh, that reminds me, I’ve got to meet up with the publisher today.”

“Really, again? That’s the third time this week.” I said.

“It’s not just writing the book, Ami. There’s revising and editing, the cover design, illustrations, final thoughts. It’s a lot of work.”

“Yeah, I know. Who is this publisher guy, anyway?”

“Don’t really know his name, but he’s this weird-looking teddy bear with cloud-like wings and a monocle. Always yelling too.”

“Oh, hey! That’s Akuma!” Raffina suddenly said.

“Akuma? Who’s that?” I asked.

“He runs the library and museum here in Primp. Technically, Melody, he’s more of a demon than a teddy bear.”

“No way, seriously?! A demon lives in this town?!” Ally shouted, this time with an empty mouth.

“Yep. He’s pretty much the only demon here. Well, besides Popoi.”

“OMG! I **SOOO** want to meet him! Melody, please take me with you!”

“Uh…I’m not so sure.”

“It’s okay, Melody. Me and Lidelle already know him. So, he’ll be fine with it if we all came along.”

“Well…if you say so, then alright.”

“ **YAY!** ” Ally said as she snarfed down her food like a wild animal. She then got up and headed for the bathroom.

“I’ll be ready in a sec. I just need to make myself feel good real quick.” She said.

“ **ALLY!** ” I yelled. Ally gave me a wink and then closed the door. The rest us sat there with an uncomfortable look on our faces.

“…D-Did Ally just say that she was going to…” Raffina asked with a mild blush of embarrassment.

“Yeah…she did.” I said with the exact same feeling.

“Ami, I take back what I said yesterday. What just happened is not normal at all.” Mom said, again with the exact same feeling.

“Th-Thanks, Mom.”

 

After Ally weirded out everyone at breakfast, we got in the car and headed for the library, or was it the museum? I completely forgot what this place is.

“It’s both a library and a museum.” Raffina said when I asked her where we were going.

“Really? Both? Wow, this Akuma guy sounds like he’s really smart.” I said.

“Yeah, no kidding. He knows everything about everyone. Even if he’s not physically there with you.”

“So…he knows about…that?”

“Huh?” At first, Raffina didn’t know what I was talking about, but when I pointed to my head, she figured it out almost immediately.

“Oh. You mean your hat, huh?” She asked. And I silently nodded, confirming her suspicions.

It’s been a while since either one of us brought this up, but around the time I first moved here, we found this thing called the Red Puyo Hat. It was a hat that held strange powers. Soon after we found it, we learned from Amira that there are actually 5 of these hats with their locations being unknown to everyone. I wanted to find them all and managed to convince Raffina and Lidelle to help me out. Little did I know, it would be the biggest mistake of my life. Soon after, the Red Puyo Hat started showing its true power, almost killing me in the process. But apparently, I wasn’t the only one suffering. Tarutaru, an old classmate of ours, had the Blue Puyo Hat in his family for generations, and Raffina borrowed it to go look for me. But it ended up almost killing her too. Luckily, the two of us were rescued by Yu and Rei, twin ghost who had the Purple Puyo Hat locked up due to its deadly powers. They also locked up the Red and Blue Puyo Hats for that same reason. We’re both entirely grateful for them saving our lives, but we haven’t seen them since that day.

“You think Akuma may know something about them?” I asked.

“Well, it’s impossible to think that he wouldn’t. The real question is will he tells us?” Raffina said.

Neither one of us said anything for the remainder of the drive there. The thoughts of our near-death experiences were a real mood killer.

 

When we got to the library/museum, I was quite amazed by the place. The building itself looked big from the outside, but inside was a whole different story.

“Woah! This place is huge!” I said, completely astounded by what I was seeing. The museum part of the building was the first thing we saw as we went inside. There were tons of statues and paintings and stuff. Makes me wonder how Akuma got all this stuff.

“Hey, Amitie! It’s this way!” Raffina called out to me.

“Huh? Ah! Coming!” I said, trying to catch up with everyone.

We soon entered the library part of the building, which was just as big as the museum. We were surrounded by what felt like millions of books. Thinking of all the possible knowledge that's inside these books is starting to hurt my mind. Eventually, we spotted a desk with a huge lamp above it. Sitting in it was, how Mom described it, a weird-looking teddy bear with cloud-like wings and a monocle. He looked like a wise, old elder. Someone you could look up to, I mean.

“Hey, Akuma. I’m here.” Mom said, getting his attention from the book he was reading.

“Melody. You are late, **KUMA!** ” Akuma said…or yelled. To be honest, I have no idea.

“Well, sorry. I’ve would’ve been here earlier if this place wasn’t so big.”

“Hm. You do have a point, **KUMA!** ”

“Hey, Akuma.” Raffina said.

“Good morning, Mr. Akuma.” Lidelle greeted with a bow.

“Raffina. Lidelle. Long time no see, **KUMA!** I hear you will be going to high school in a few months. Congratulations, **KUMA!** ”

“Thank you.” They both said.

“Oh hey, Akuma. This is my daughter, Amitie. But I just call her Ami.” Mom said as she wrapped her arm around me.

“H-Hi. Nice to meet you, Akuma.” I said nervously.

“No need to be nervous. The feeling is mutual, **KUMA!** ”

“Oh. Okay then.”

“And this girl right here is Ally. She’s Ami’s childhood friend.”

“Woah…I’m really standing in front of an **actual** demon! So cool! I’ve got to take a picture of this! Our friends back home won’t believe this, Ami!” Ally said.

“Please. No cell phone use in the library, **KUMA!** ”

“Oh. Then can I take one in the museum?”

“No cell phone use in the museum either, **KUMA!** ”

“Then how about outside?”

“I don’t like my photo taken, **MA, KUMA, KUMAAAA!** ”

“Aw, damn it.”

“Anyway, Akuma.” Raffina took over the conversation. “Amitie and Ally will be joining us at the high school. And…something about me and Amitie you should know…”

“You and Amitie are in a relationship with each other, am I right?” Akuma asked. The response took Raffina off guard.

“Y-Yeah. H-How did you know?” She stuttered.

“I am a wise and knowledgeable demon from the underworld. I know all that happens in this town, **KUMA!** ”

“Woah…” I said.

“That, and Amira told me everything the day she found out.”

“Oh.” Raffina sounded mad when she said that. I wasn’t sure what exactly she was thinking, but I’m pretty sure it’s somewhat similar to _‘Goddamnit, Amira!’_

“Melody. We still have work to do on your light novel. You kids feel free to look around, **KUMA!** ”

“I should be done in an hour or two. Not long at all.” Mom said.

“Alright. Later, Mom.” I said. The four of us then went off to look around the library for something to do.

 

**Raffina’s POV**

 

“Geez, this library is **HUGE**. Probably the biggest I’ve ever been to.” Amitie said after a few minutes of walking.

“Yeah, no kidding. You think they have any manga here?” Ally asked.

"Probably. Though I've never been able to find them, so I just end up buying them online." Lidelle said.

“Huh? Lidelle, you read that stuff?” I asked.

“Yeah. You don’t?”

“No, not really.”

“Geez, Raffina. You don’t play video games, you don’t read manga…you’re straight up girly!” Ally said.

“How does me not playing video games or reading manga make me girly?!”

“Wait, you don’t play video games either? That’s the definition of girly.” Lidelle added.

“But I’m not girly, though!”

“You play video games, Lidelle? Sweet! Maybe you can help us settle this argument me and Ami are having.” Ally said, completely ignoring me.

“What argument?”

“Which is the better game, ChuChu Rocket or Space Harrier? It’s the second one, right?”

“What? No way! Space Harrier has too much stuff going on! It’s too hard!” Amitie said.

“And ChuChu Rocket doesn’t? I can’t tell you how many times I got a game over because of freaking Cat Mania! It’s infuriating!”

“What do think, Lidelle?”

“Neither.” Lidelle said almost instantly.

“Huh?”

“While both games are fun to play, neither one of them are better than OutRun.”

“OutRun?! Seriously?! That’s just a driving simulator!” Both Amitie and Ally shouted.

“Hey! It’s a good driving simulator! You’re driving down the sunny beach in a red Lamborghini, the wind in your hair as you try to avoid the other cars on the road while going as fast as possible. Not to mention the music!”

“The music’s the only thing memorable about OutRun!” Ally said.

“So **NOT** true!”

“Okay, then. Name **ONE** game that fun to play **AND** has great music!” Amitie said.

“Easy! The House of the Dead!”

Amitie and Ally went pale all of a sudden.

“Y-You play The House of the Dead?” Ally asked.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with it?”

“N-Nothing. It’s just…that game’s terrifying.” Amitie said.

“Oh, come on. It’s not **THAT** scary. It’s like playing Duck Hunt.”

“ **THOSE TWO GAMES ARE NOTHING ALIKE!!!** ” Both girls shouted at Lidelle.

Throughout their entire argument, I had no idea what they were talking out. I’ve never been so confused in my entire life.

“Uh…guys? What are you talking about?” I asked.

“ _So girly_.” Lidelle and Ally said under their breaths.

“ **I’M NOT GIRLY!** ”

“Don’t be upset, Raffina. I enjoy your girliness.” Amitie said.

“But I’m not…aw, forget it." I said, giving up on this whole "girly" thing.

 

We eventually got ourselves deeper inside the library, at least I think we're still in the library. We were walking through

“H-Hey, guys? Wh-Where are we?” Lidelle asked, feeling uneasy.

"I-I'm not sure. I'm actually kinda scared right now." Ally said.

“Hey, Raffina. I have a bad feeling about this place.” Amitie said while holding my arm for comfort.

“Yeah, me too. I just hope we can find some help around here.” I said.

“ _Yu rang for some help?_ ”

When we heard that mysterious fifth voice, we stopped walking and were frozen stiff in fear.

“ **W-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!** ” Ally asked in a panicked voice.

The rest of us didn’t answer because we were too scared to speak. I felt a presence getting closer to us. It kept getting closer and closer until…

“ **SURPRISE!!! AN ATTACK FROM BEHIND!!!** ”

“ _From behind_.”

“ **AHHH!!!** ” We all screamed from the top of our lungs. But seconds later, I recognized the voices and nudged Amitie to get her to turn around with me. Needless to say, she was happy at what she saw.

“Yu! Rei!” She yelled in excitement.

“Hiya, Amitie and Raffina. Scarred ya real good just now, didn’t we?” Yu said.

“Yeah, you two got us good.” I said.

“Awesome!”

I turned around to see Lidelle and Ally still scarred, but now also with looks of confusion.

“Oh. Right. Lidelle, Ally, these are our friends Yu and Rei. We met them a couple months ago.”

“A couple months ago? Wasn’t that during the whole Puyo Hat disaster?” Lidelle asked.

“ _Puyo Hat disaster?_ What’s a Puyo Hat, and why was it a disaster?” Ally asked.

“Oh right, Ally. You don’t know what happened. Well, you see…”

Amitie then explained to Ally everything that happened the month before she moved here. At one point, Amitie almost began to cry. I held her tight and said it was okay. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and continued the explanation.

“…And that’s basically it.” She said, ending the story.

“W-Wow. I never knew you went through such hell, Ami.” Ally said. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Ami, I’m your best friend. I’m supposed to worry when stuff like that happens.”

“Th-Thanks, Ally.” Amitie said while trying to hold back her tears. Ally then turned to look at Yu and Rei.

“So it was you two who rescued Ami, huh?” She asked. “Well then, thank you both for saving my best friend’s life. Name’s Ally, by the way.”

“Aw, your welcome, Ally. The name’s Yu. This is my twin brother, Rei. Rei say hi.”

“Hi.” Rei said.

“He’s a bit shy, but he’s fun once you get to know him.”

“Good to know.”

“Come on, Lidelle. Introduce yourself.” I said.

“H-Huh? O-Oh, right. Uh…I’m Lidelle. Nice to meet you two.” She said.

“Same here, Lidelle.” Yu said while giving a peace sign.

Lidelle was still scared at the fact that we consider a pair of ghost as friends, but she got over it rather quickly.

“So what are you two doing here, anyway?” Amitie asked.

“Working.” Rei answered.

“Huh? You two work here?” I asked.

"Indeedy!" Yu said cheerfully. "Akuma gave us the job last week. He said in return, we keep the Puyo Hats in the museum where he can research their hidden powers."

“That sounds like a fair deal.” Lidelle said.

“Indeedy!”

“So what job do you guys do?” Ally asked.

“Well, we’re supposed to organize all this junk so Akuma can reopen this part of the library, but even for a pair of ghost like us, it’s a rather difficult task.”

“Well, we can help you guys out. Right, everyone?” Amitie asked us.

“Sure. I’ve got nothing better to do.” I said.

“Me neither.” Lidelle added.

“Consider it my thanks for saving Ami.” Ally said.

“Awesome! Hey, Rei! We’re going to get help with our work!” Yu said to her twin.

“Yay.” Was all he said. I couldn’t really tell if he was excited or upset that we were helping out, but you kinda expect that from Rei.

 

 

“Hey, Yu. What about this thing?” She asked. _This thing_ was a fancy-looking black mirror that somehow didn’t break under all that clutter.

“Huh. I’ve actually never seen that thing before. It’s not on the list of things to look for, either.” Yu said.

“Hey, there’s a hole at the top of the mirror.” Lidelle said, noticing the dent.

“You think something goes there?” Ally asked.

“Probably.” Rei answered.

We all decided to look for the missing part, which took about 10 minutes to find.

“I think I found it.” I said as I raised the thing in the air. It was a red and black diamond-like crystal with a smaller black orb inside of it.

“What **IS** that thing?” Ally asked.

“Don’t know. It’s not on the list, either.” Yu said.

“Well, if this and the mirror are not on the list, then maybe they go together.” I said.

“Yeah, I guess.”

I walked up to mirror with the crystal in hand and inserted it in the hole at the top. The mirror was glowing as it started to float on its own. Soon, the glass in the mirror started shifting back and forth on its own.

“Wh-What’s happening?!” Lidelle asked, completely terrified.

“I-I don’t know!” Ally said, also terrified.

"R-Raffina! I'm scared!" Amitie said while clinging on to me.

“Don’t worry, Amitie! I’ll protect you!” I said, holding her tight in the process.

The mirror started spewing lighting bolts that broke through the roof of the building. Six of them in all. A huge crack then began going down the middle of the mirror. The crack got bigger and bigger until it eventually broke the entire mirror in half. A bright light engulfed the room and we covered our eyes to avoid getting blind. When the light finally cleared up, no traces of the mirror or the crystal were seen. What was in its place was a girl with orange hair, kinda like Ally’s. She was wearing a blue and white dress with a white cloak over it. She was also wearing blue and white wristbands and shoes. From the looks of it, they were her favorite colors. Yu went up to her and felt her head.

“H-Hey. Y-You okay?” She asked but got no response from the girl.

“H-Hey, guys. I-I think she’s unconscious!” Yu said to us. “Quick! Lidelle and Ally, go get Akuma! Amitie, Raffina, help us carry her! There’s a room with a bed nearby!”

“Right!” We all said. Lidelle and Ally went off to find Akuma and Melody while me and Amitie helped Yu and Rei carry the unconscious girl to the nearby room. We don’t know who this girl is, or why she came out of the mirror. Hopefully, she remembers everything that happened before coming here, because she’s going to have a lot of explaining to do when she wakes up.

If she wakes up that it.

 

 

**Arle’s POV**

 

_Ow…my head. Wh-What happened? Why am I in so much pain?_

 

I finally managed to open my eyes and stared at the ceiling. It took me a while for me to move my head over, but when I did, I realized I was in some kind of lounge. A pretty nice one, to be exact. There was an expensive-looking sofa across from the super comfy bed I was one. And next to the bed was a mini fridge.

I tried getting off the bed but…

“Ow, Ow, **OUCH!!!** Wh-What the- Why did that hurt so bad?!”

I was only able to sit on the bed when I noticed that I was covered in cuts and bruises.

“Wh-What?! H-How did I get these?! I don’t remember doing anything dangerous. I was just walking through the forest having fun with Car…” I stopped myself after realizing something, more like “someone” was missing.

"C-Carby? Carby?! Where are you?! Stop playing games with me, I'm getting scared!"

But Carby wasn’t playing any games. In fact, he wasn’t even the same room as me. For the first time since who knows how long ago, I was alone. I was in this strange place all by myself, without Carby to comfort me or tell me “Gugu, gu” which translates to “Everything’s going to be fine.” in English.

“C-Carby…” I began crying hard tears as I came to realize that I may never see my best friend ever again.

“Hey, guys. I think she’s up.”

“Don’t just rush in there. You might scare her.”

“I just hope that she’s all patched up. I can’t handle blood.”

“Please…after what you said earlier, I find that hard to believe.”

I started hearing female voices coming from outside the room. I immediately went from scared to terrified. What did they mean by "all patched up"? I was convinced that they did something to Carby and feared that I was next. I had to hide, but I was limited to get underneath the bed while still feeling the pain from the cuts and bruises. I covered my mouth to stop myself from crying some more. I heard the door open and multiple footsteps walk inside the room. Based on the limited viewing space I had, there were four people looking around the room.

“Hey, where’d she go?”

“You said she was up, right? With all those injuries she got coming out of that mirror, she couldn’t have gotten that far.”

“Yeah, true.”

_Wait, mirror…Did I come out of a mirror? Did I end up in another world or something?_

I looked at one of the cuts on my arm. It had gotten worse from me crawling under the bed. The carpet was so rough it made my pain even worse than before.

“Did you check under the bed?” Said a new voice. It sounded like a male one, too.

“Huh? Under the bed? How could someone fit under there?”

“I can sense it. Someone with extraordinary power is underneath there, **MA, KUMA, KUMA!!!**

_Crap! They know I’m here!_

Now I had an extreme fear for my life. Since one of these people have some type of magic, I knew I didn’t stand a chance of fighting back due to my weak state. My only option is to just accept my fate, whether or not I die at the end.

“Hey, there you are. You feeling any better?” One girl asked as she looked under the bed and saw me. I didn’t say anything because I was still scared, so I just nodded my head _no_.

"Aw, geez. Poor thing. You've been through a lot, haven't you?"

I nodded my head _yes_.

“Though so. Well, you don’t have to be scared anymore. You’re safe with us. So do you think you can come out from under there?” The girl said as she reached out her hand towards me.

I really didn't want to, but this blonde-haired girl's green eyes were somehow soothing. I felt so relaxed from looking at her that I felt like I could trust her and whoever's out there with her. I know that's bad judgment, but I really can't stay under this bed living in constant fear the rest of my life.

I grabbed the girl’s hand and crawled out from under the bed. Once fully out, I sat down on the bed trying to hold in the pain from the cuts and bruises. I noticed that with the blonde-haired girl was a pink-haired girl, a green-haired girl with two small things poking out of it, and an orange- haired girl. All were staring at me with compassion.

“Well, you seemed tired. So we’re going to let you rest some more, okay?” The blonde said. As the four girls began to leave, my anxiety built up again.

“W-Wait!” I said, shocking the group. “D-Do you mind…s-staying here a bit? I-I don’t want…to be alone.”

The four girls looked at each other, then looked at me with smiles on their faces.

“Sure. No problem.” The blonde said. The four girls grabbed a couple of chairs and sat in front of me in order to keep me company.

“So what’s your name, if you don’t mind me asking?” The same girl asked.

“A-Arle. Arle Nadja.” I said shyly.

“Arle Nadja. That’s a nice name.”

“Y-You can just call me Arle.”

“Okay. Even better.”

I smiled a little after hearing that.

“My name’s Amitie. Nice to meet you, Arle.”

“S-Same here…Amitie.”

“You don’t have be afraid anymore. We’re here to help.” The pink-haired girl said.

“Oh, s-sorry uh…”

“Whoops, I forgot. My name’s Raffina.”

“Nice to meet you too, Raffina.”

“I’m Lidelle. Nice to meet you.”

“The name’s Ally. It’s nice to meet such a cutie like you.”

The other two girls introduced themselves and I felt a little more comfortable around these four girls. Although I did find what Ally just said to be a little creepy.”

“Knock it off, Ally.” Amitie said.

“What? I really meant it. She’s a real cutie pie.” Ally said.

“Ally, that sounds really perverted.” Lidelle said.

“How? You’re a cutie pie too, Lidelle.”

“H-Huh? I-I am?”

“Of course. And I mean that, too.”

“W-Well, th-that's…g-good to know." Lidelle was blushing really hard after that.

_Are these two dating?_

“Uh…sorry about Ally. She’s always like that.” Amitie apologized.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I have a friend who does the same thing, so I’m used to it. But for some reason he never notices himself doing it.” I said.

“I notice it when I do it.” Ally said in a flirty tone.

“Yeah, Ally. We know.” Raffina said.

 

The five of us continued talking about random stuff girls would normally talk about. The more we talked, the more calm and comfortable I got while being around them. I don’t know how long we’ve been talking, but I haven’t had this much fun since I was in kindergarten.

But there was one thing I wanted to talk about, and I didn’t find it fun at all.

“Hey, Amitie. I heard you guys talk about me getting hurt from a mirror. What’s that about?” I asked.

The room went silent.

“Well…Arle…we were hoping you knew.” Amitie said.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“We found the mirror in a pile of junk in the library. There was this crystal that had to go in it and when we put the two together, the mirror did some strange and creepy stuff. When it was all over, we found you laying on the floor unconscious. So we brought you here.” Raffina explained.

“O-Oh. I see.”

“Arle, do you remember anything that happened before you came here?” Lidelle asked me.

“Well, all I remember was me walking through a forest with…”

…

…

“A-Arle…you okay?” Ally asked.

 ** _*sniff*_** “Carby…”

“Carby?” Everyone else asked.

"O-Oh sorry. I'm talking about my best friend, Carbuncle. I called him Carby. We were playing in the forest together when a giant hole appeared in the sky. It started sucking things in and eventually, it sucked me in too. It wasn't until I woke up here when I realized that Carby was left behind. It shattered me completely."

“Arle, I’m so sorry.” Lidelle said. “What was Carbuncle like?”

“Well, he’s like a short yellow rabbit. Loves eating and sleeping. Oh, and he only says _gugu_.”

“Gugu? What does that mean?” Amitie asked.

“Pretty much everything. It took me a while to learn his speech, but nowadays it’s easy. I just wish I could see him again.”

“Well, maybe he’s somewhere outside. We can go look for him once you get better.”

“Really? You guys will help me? Gee, thanks. Your all the best!”

"Uh…Arle? You said a giant hole appeared in the sky while you and Carbuncle were in the forest, right?" Raffina asked.

“Yes, that’s right.” I said.

“Raffina, you okay? You have a sad look on your face.” Amitie said.

“W-Well…I texted our friend Klug earlier and he just responded. He said there wasn’t a giant hole over the forest.”

“W-Wait… **WHAT?!** M-Maybe your friend was inside somewhere.” I said panickily.

“…N-No. He was outside. In the forest, to be exact.”

“Wh-What part of the forest was he at?”

“There’s only one part. Called Nahe Forest.”

“Nahe Forest? I…I’ve never heard that name before.”

“Really? So, you don’t live here in Primp Town?” Amitie asked.

“Primp…Town? What’s that?”

The room went silent again.

“Ladies, the building’s closing. Time to go, **KUMA!** ” I heard the voice of the male figure from earlier as he came in the room. I was surprised that it was a teddy bear with that deep of a voice.

“H-Hey, Akuma? Do you think we can take Arle with us? She doesn’t want to be alone right now.” Raffina asked.

“ **Hmm.** Normally I would be against this, but seeing as this situation is not normal, I guess I can make an exception, **KUMA!** ”

“Thanks, Akuma.”

“But be back here tomorrow, **KUMA!** I still need to figure out what in the world happened, **MA, KUMA, KUMA!!!** ”

“Will do.” Raffina said.

 

The weird-looking teddy bear, who I now know is named Akuma, showed us the way out the building where a woman, who I now know is named Melody and is Amitie’s mom, was waiting for us. We all went to Amitie’s house where I took a nice bath and ate something called _“pizza.”_ It was really good, to be honest. I borrowed one of Amitie’s shirts for pajamas and laying in what they called a _“futon.”_

"Hey, Arle? Are you still scared?" Lidelle asked.

“T-To be honest, yeah…I still am.” I said.

“Don’t worry, Arle. We’ll figure everything out tomorrow.” Ally said.

“Th-Thank you, both. Uh…by the way…what’s with those two?” I asked while pointing at Amitie and Raffina, who were cuddling up against each other.

“Aw, geez. They fell asleep like that again?” Lidelle said.

“So awesome!” Ally said while holding this weird skinny box thing.

“They do this a lot?” I asked.

“Yeah. It’s been happening since they started dating.”

“ **W-WHOA?!** Seriously? They’re dating? I didn’t think they swung that way.”

“Neither did they until a couple months ago.”

“Do they…love each other?”

“From the looks of it, they really do.”

…

…

“Arle?”

“Huh? Oh, I’m fine. Well, good night!” I said while quickly getting under the covers.

“Okay…good night then.” Lidelle said, completely confused.

“ _Yes!_ I got so many pictures! Can’t wait to show them off!” Ally said while gawking over the pictures she took with her weird skinny box thing.

“Ally…go to sleep.” Lidelle said, sounding both creeped out and annoyed.

 

I laid underneath the covers in my tiny bed thinking of what Lidelle had just told me.

_Gee, Amitie and Raffina are lucky. They have each other while I’m all alone. I want that same feeling once more, but with there being a high chance of me never seeing Carby again, who would return to me that same feeling? Who will refill this empty feeling I have in my heart? I just hope things get better from here._

After having my last thought, I closed my eyes and went to sleep. Well, I tried to, at least.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was cleaned up greatly of mistakes.


	3. Dimensional Rip

**Arle’s POV**

 

I didn’t get much sleep last night. Some of it was a light snooze, but most of it was me quietly crying over the fact that I don’t have Carby with me in this weird place I somehow ended up in. Amitie and her friends said something about a mirror, but that’s all they know about it. I’m really hoping that this Akuma guy can figure out what happened. I don’t think my heart can handle this feeling of emptiness much longer.

“Hey, Arle? You look tired. Feeling okay?” I hear Amitie ask me. We were in the middle of eating breakfast when she noticed the look on my face.

“H-Huh? Oh…yeah. I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” I replied.

“Arle…please stop lying to us.” Raffina said.

“H-Huh? W-What are you talking about?”

“We heard you crying last night.” Lidelle said.

“It was unsettling, to say the least.” Ally added.

“…Y-You did, huh?”

“Arle, you don’t have to be afraid anymore. We’re here to help you…we’re your friends.” Amitie said.

“F-Friends?”

“Of course! Friends care for each other and help each other out for as long as they live.”

“We don’t want you to feel sad and alone anymore. It doesn’t have to be right now, but we’re hoping you’ll feel better soon.” Raffina added.

“And of course, we have ways to help you feel better…” Ally suggested.

“ **Correction,** _us three_ have ways to help. Ally would just make you even more uncomfortable.” Lidelle explained.

“What?! Come on! You guys can’t say you haven’t try it.”

“ **WE HAVEN’T, AND WE NEVER WILL!!!** ” Amitie, Raffina, and Lidelle shouted.

“Hm. You don’t know what you’re missing out.”

“Uh…what is she talking about?” I asked, not knowing what was going on.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” Amitie said.

“I guess I’ll take your word for it then.”

“Anyway, we were going to go walk around a bit until the museum opens at 1:00. Did you want to come with us? We could even show you around.”

I thought about this for a little bit. If it’s possibly true that I could be stuck here, I might as well get to know this place they call “Primp”. _Seriously that is a weird name for a town to have._

“Uh…sure. I’ll go with you.” I said. “Do you mind if I take a bath first?”

“Sure, we don’t mind. I’ll even let you borrow some of my clothes for you to change into.”

“Wow, Ami. You’re willing to let Arle borrow some of your clothes just like that?” Ally asked.

“Yeah, why not? She doesn’t have much of her own.”

“Even your panties?”

“ **WHAT?! NO! THAT’S DISGUSTING! WHO ACTUALLY DOES THAT?!** ”

“Well, there was that one time we were at my house watching a scary movie and you ended up wetting yourself, so I let you borrow one of mine.”

“ **YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T BRING THAT UP!** ”

Raffina, Lidelle, and I were blushing a bit after hearing that.

“I-I’m just going to start the bath now…” I said as I got up from my futon and headed for the bathroom.

“I-I’ll bring you a change of clothes in a sec. M-Minus the…panties.” Amitie was still mildly embarrassed that secret of hers was revealed to everyone.

“So what movie was it?” I heard Lidelle ask.

“Lidelle!”

“I was just curious.”

 

Once I got in the bathroom, I turned the water on and measured for the right temperature. Once that was done, I took off my clothes and undid my ponytail to let my hair down. I starred at my reflection in the mirror, surprised at what I was looking at.

_W-Woah. I actually look…kind of cute. Maybe I should keep it like this for a while._

“Hey, Arle. You in the bath yet?” I heard Amitie’s voice from outside the bathroom.

I was so immersed with my new look that I forgot that I was taking a bath. I quickly got in the tub and closed the sliding door behind it.

“Uh…yeah. You can come in now.” I said.

Amitie opened the bathroom door and closed it once inside.

“I’m just going to leave the clothes near the sink. Hey, do you mind if I brush my teeth real quick?”

“S-Sure. Go ahead.”

“Thanks.”

Amitie ran the water in the sink and began brushing her teeth. While she was doing so, I started thinking about what happened yesterday, and what I was told about it. One part of it came across my mind.

“Hey, Amitie?”

“Yeah?”

“You said the mirror did some creepy stuff before you found me, right?” What exactly did it do?”

“Well, after Raffina inserted the crystal inside the mirror, it started floating and glowing. It then shot six lightning bolts into the sky and then broke in half. That’s when we found you.” Amitie explained.

“W-Wow. I can imagine you all were terrified.”

“Yeah, it isn’t something that happens every day here.”

“ ** _*giggle*_** Yeah, true.”

We both had a good laugh about what counts as _normal_ nowadays.

“Hey, Arle?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Did you have friends were you came from? Like besides Carbuncle?”

I didn’t say anything for a little while.

“…You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“N-No, it’s okay. I actually did have friends besides Carby. I’ll admit, they’re pretty weird, but they’re fun to be around once you get to know them.”

“Do you miss them?”

“Yeah, I do. But I got you and your friends to keep me company.”

“Arle…they’re **our** friends.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“…Even Raffina?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“…Well, last night…I saw you and Raffina snuggling each other…”

“O-Oh. Y-You saw that?” I couldn’t see behind the sliding door, but I could tell Amitie was mildly blushing from the embarrassment.

“Y-Yeah.”

Amitie didn’t say anything for a while. I couldn’t tell if she was thinking of what to say or trying to avoid the conversation.

“…W-Well, with me and Raffina, it’s a little different.”

“Y-You two are d-dating, right?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“D-Does it…feel good? To love someone?”

“…Y-Yeah…it’s does, actually.”

This time, neither one of us said anything. The only sound that could be heard was the running water coming from the sink and the bathtub.

“S-Sorry for making you uncomfortable.” I said.

“I-It’s okay. I’m fine.”

“Okay, then. I’m going to come out now.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll leave now.”

Amitie left the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Once she was gone, I got out the tub and dried myself off. I put on the clothes Amitie left for me, being a light-blue t-shirt and black jean shorts, and looked at the mirror once more. I was about to tie my hair up when I remembered how cute I looked with my hair down.

“You know…maybe I’ll keep it down for a little while. A little change wouldn’t hurt.” I said to myself as I put my hair scrunchie on my arm.

Once I was all dressed, I exited the bathroom and went to the living room where the other girls were sitting at.

“Wow, Arle. Nice hairstyle.” Lidelle said.

“Yeah, you look pretty cute with your hair down.” Raffina added.

“R-Really? Y-You think so?” I asked.

“Totally!” Ally said. “So much so that I could just kiss you right now!”

“T-That’s not all that necessary, Ally.”

“Ally, it’s **way** too early for your perverted comments right now.” Lidelle said to her.

“Anyway, ready to go Arle?” Amitie asked.

“Yeah, sure…but what about her?” I said while pointing to Melody, who was still asleep.

“I don’t have the patience to wake her up today, so we’re just going to walk.”

“Oh. Okay then.”

With that said, the five of us walked out of Amitie’s house and began walking around this strange new world that I somehow came to.

 

**Amitie’s POV**

 

“So what’s your home like, Arle?”

We were walking around the plaza talking about random stuff when I asked Arle this question.

“Huh? You really want to know?” She asked.

“Sure. We all do, right guys?”

“Yeah, I’m also curious.” Raffina said.

“Me too.” Lidelle added.

“Is there like a fire-breathing dragon where you live?” Ally asked.

“Ally, be serious.” I said to her.

“Actually…there is one.”

“ **WHAT?! SERIOUSLY?!** ” The four of us shouted.

“Yeah. He belongs to this girl I used to know back then. Her name was Chico and the dragon was name…well, Dragon.”

“Kind of a lazy name choice.” Raffina said.

“True, but they were both fun to be around once you got to know them. Though I’ve only been with her for a few months. One day she moved away, and I haven’t seen her since.”

“Wow, that sucks. You didn’t get her phone number?” I asked.

“A _what_ -number?”

“Don’t you have a phone?” Lidelle asked.

“What’s a _phone_?”

The four of us just starred at her with surprised looks on our faces. We seriously couldn’t believe that there’s someone who has never heard of a phone.

“Arle…just where are you from?” I asked.

Arle just looked at us with a confused looked on her face.

 

After we explained to Arle what a phone was, she got excited and really wanted one. So we went to the shopping district to go pick one out. (We also had to explain to her what a shopping district was.) When we got there, we could tell how mind-blown Arle was. She was bouncing around like a little kid at the candy store.

“Hey, Arle. Calm down a bit, will you? You’re going to end up bumping into someone.” Lidelle said.

“I can’t help it! This place is **SO HUGE!** I can’t believe a place like this actually exists!” Arle said with a jittery tone.

“Arle, we know you’re excited and all, but should really calm down before you end up…”

***OOF***

As Raffina was about to finish her sentence, Arle did in fact end up bumping into someone, and both her and the boy she bumped into fell to the ground.

“…hitting someone.” Raffina finished her sentence with a facepalm.

“Geez, Arle! We told you to be careful!” I said as we ran up to her and the boy. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine.” Arle replied with an embarrassed blush.

“Sorry, mister. I hope you’re not hurt.” I said to the boy.

“I am fine, but did you say that this girl was Arle?” He asked.

“Y-Yeah. Why?”

For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this guy. He had a hood over his head, so we couldn’t see his face. He was wearing all black with a hoodie and long jeans, but had white sneakers. He was truly suspicious, and apparently I wasn’t the only one with this feeling.

“Hey, buddy! Do you need something from us? Cause if not, then you need to get going!” Raffina said.

“Nothing personal, it’s just you give off this weird feeling and it’s making us uncomfortable.” Lidelle explained.

“Oh, my deepest apologies. Let me remove my hood.” The boy said as he took his hood off, reveling his face. I noticed Arle’s face light up when she saw his face.

“S-Schezo!” She yelled as she ran to hug the boy.

“Arle, it really is you! You look…different.”

“I should be saying that to you. For once, you’re not wearing any armor.”

“Well, after arriving in this strange place I had to blend in with these locals so they won’t know my true identity.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

The rest of us looked over completely confused. This boy seemed real suspicious at first glance, but apparently Arle knows him so well that she’s able to hug the guy.

“Uh, Arle? Do you know this guy?” I asked.

“Oh, right. Sorry, Amitie. This is actually one of my friends I told you about.” Arle said.

“Greetings, friends of Arle. I am Schezo Wegey. I must thank you for reuniting the two of us.”

“You don’t have to thank us, uh…Schezo was it? We’re just glad that Arle’s happy again.”

“Yes, she is. Tell me, you must want a reward, right? I’m sure my _big sword_ can _give it to you_.”

“ _B-Big s-sword?! G-Give it to us?!_ ” Us four frighteningly said. We were blushing an extreme shade of red after hearing what this pervert just said.

“Yeah, sure. Why not?” Schezo said as he pulled out…an actual sword.

“O-Oh…you actually have a sword. Thank goodness.” I said with a sigh of relief.

“What did you think I meant?”

“Uh…”

“H-Hey, Schezo. If we’re going to be stuck here, you really need to work on your speech.” Arle said, saving me from having to explain my dirty thought.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I may be able to understand what you really mean, but these girls won’t.”

“O-Oh. I get it now.” Schezo said. Then he turned back to us. “I apologize for making you all uncomfortable. This speech thing is a weird habit of mine that I can’t seem to break.”

“It’s okay, Schezo. As long as you’re aware of it.” I said. “I’m Amitie, by the way. The pink haired girl is Raffina, the girl in all green is Lidelle, and the orange haired girl with green eyes is Ally.”

“It’s nice to meet you all.”

“Hey, Schezo. Do you know how you got here?” Raffina asked.

“I don’t actually. I remember practicing my sword strikes in the forest when I was struck by a lightning bolt and fell unconscious. When I came to, I was in a dark cave.”

“Wait – struck by lightning? We saw lightning come of the mirror before we found Arle.” Lidelle said.

“A mirror? You’re saying a mirror brought us here?”

“We’re not sure. We’re waiting for our friend Akuma to figure out what happened.”

“I see. When that time comes, mind if I tag along?”

“Sure! A friend of Arle’s is a friend of ours!” I said.

“I can agree to that.” Raffina said.

“Me too.” Lidelle added.

“I want to be friends with Schezo’s _big sword­_!” Ally yelled.

“Uh…” Schezo didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Just ignore her. She’s perverted on purpose.” Lidelle said.

“Okay then.”

“Anyway,” I continued. “We still have to wait a while before we could go meet up with Akuma, so we were going to pick out a phone for Arle. We could get one for you too.”

“Many thanks for the kind gift, but may I ask one question?” Schezo asked.

“Sure. What is it?”

“What’s this _phone_ you’re talking about?”

“Huh?! You’ve never heard of a phone, either?!”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Well…Arle can tell you, right Arle?” I said facing Arle.

“Actually…I kind of forgot what it is.” Arle said.

“Get real.” I said with a facepalm.

 

By the time I had finished explaining to Arle **AND** Schezo what a phone is, it was already 1:00, so we saved the phone shopping for another day and headed for the museum. On the way there, Arle and Schezo were catching up on lost time.

“So, this place is called _Primp_?” Schezo asked. “Kind of a weird name for a town.”

“I know right? I had the same thought.” Arle said.

“Hey, how is it weird? It sounds just fine to me.” Raffina interjected. I guess she was getting offended that these strange visitors were badmouthing her hometown. Although I love being here, I don’t have the same feeling she does since I’ve only been here for about four months.

“Oh sorry, Raffina. We weren’t trying to insult this place or anything.” Arle said.

“We’ve just never been to a town like this. Or any town for that matter.” Schezo justified her statement.

“Huh? There aren’t any towns where you guys came from?” Lidelle asked.

“No, it’s mainly just patches of grass, hills, mountains, beaches, ruins, caves, cloud worlds, volcanos, a dark castle…am I forgetting anything?” Arle turned to Schezo.

“There’s also a replica of hell.” He said.

“Oh yeah. There’s that, too.”

The rest of us were dumbfounded (and somewhat terrified) of how Arle and Schezo described their home.

“You guys have a replica of hell, but not a city or town?” I asked.

“Yeah, pretty much.” They both answered.

“So cool.” Ally said.

 

We reached the museum and headed to the far back of it to where Akuma’s study was.

“Come in, **KUMA!** ” We heard Akuma say when we knocked on the door. When we entered the room, we saw Akuma sitting at his desk, along with Yu, Rei, and a fourth person.

“Huh? Lemres? What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Hope you don’t mind, but when Akuma came to me about this yesterday I got a little curious. So I came by to check things out.” Lemres said.

“He’s been a great help into figuring out what happened yesterday, **KUMA!** ” Akuma said.

“Yeah! He even cleared up all that junk in the library!” Yu said cheerfully.

“Which was originally _your_ job, **KUMA!** ”

“O-Oh, yeah…” Yu rubbed the back of her head out of embarrassment.

“It’s okay, Yu. _The more help, the better_ I always say.” I said in an attempt to cheer her up.

“Thanks, Amitie.” Yu replied.

“By the way, I see we have some new faces joining us. Shall we get introductions out of the way first?” Lemres said.

“Oh, right. Of course.” I said with a clear of my throat. “Everyone, these are our two new friends, Arle Nadja and Schezo Wegey.” I then turned to Arle and Schezo. “Guys, Lemres is the tall guy wearing the hat, Akuma is the demon teddy bear, and the twin ghost are named Yu and Rei.”

“Hello, everyone. It’s nice to meet you all.” Arle greeted everyone.

Schezo didn’t say anything, instead he kept starring at Lemres with an intense glare in his eyes.

“Something about you…I sense some intense power coming from you.” He said.

“I could say the same thing about you.” Lemres answered.

“Are you by any chance…a comet warlock?”

“Yes, I am. You’re a dark wizard, aren’t you?”

“Indeed I am.”

“Oh, boy. Here we go.” I heard Arle say next to me.

“Arle, what’s going on?” I asked.

“Well, you see…Schezo is what’s known as a dark wizard. His kind and the comet warlocks once had a huge war centuries ago, but since then they’ve made peace with each other by separating the two clans. I’ve never seen a comet warlock before, and from the looks of it, neither has Schezo.”

“Oh. I get it now.” That was a lie. I didn’t get it at all.

“Hm. I didn’t think dark wizards were around anymore. Surprised to see one now.” Lemres said.

“The same could be said about comet warlocks. I’ve heard how powerful they can be, and have always wanted to do battle with one.” Schezo said.

“Well, you’re in luck, Schezo. For I always wanted to do battle with a dark wizard. Shall we have our own sometime?”

“Indeed we shall.” Schezo said as he pulled out his sword.

“As the light conceals the darkness, and the darkness consumes the light, with all my internal power, I shall _penetrate_ you with my _huge, thick blade_!”

The room went dead silent after hearing that.

“S-Schezo…you’re doing it again.” Arle said with her hand on his shoulder.

“…”

“ **CRAP!** Forgive me, comet warlock. This damn habit of mine is a real bother!” Schezo said after realizing what just happened.

“It’s okay, Schezo. I get what you were trying to say.” Lemres said while rubbing the back of his head. “By the way, _comet warlock_ is a bit long, don’t you think? Just call me Lemres.”

“O-Okay then…Lemres.”

Glad that’s cleared up.

“Anyway, did you and Lemres figure out what was with that mirror, Akuma?” I asked after everyone got re-comfortable from Schezo’s mishap.

“Ah, yes. About that…we did come up with a conclusion, but it comes with bad news.” Akuma said.

“How bad?”

“Well…let me start from the beginning.” Akuma cleared his throat, then continued on with his explanation.

“It starts with that mirror. As you all know, it wasn’t a normal mirror. After doing some research, I found out that it was called the Dimensional Mirror, **KUMA!** ”

“T-The Dimensional Mirror? That name alone sounds scary.” Lidelle said while hiding behind Ally.

“Yes, it does. The Dimensional Mirror is an object that can teleport someone to a different dimensional word at random. It was once destroyed by a legendary star warrior long ago, but somehow it was put back together, and it ended up in this world, **KUMA!** ”

“Woah. That’s some power.” Ally said.

“Hold on, what about that crystal I found? The mirror started doing all that stuff when I put the crystal inside the slot on top of it.” Raffina said.

“Ah, yes. The crystal. After doing more research, I found out that it was called a Soul Crystal.”

“S-Soul Crystal? Why do these things have scary names?” Lidelle asked. She was definitely terrified, as proven by how tight she was holding Ally at this point.

“ ** _Ack!_** Lidelle! You’re squeezing me too tight! I can’t breathe!” Ally shouted, or at least tried to.

“S-Sorry, Ally.” Lidelle said as she let go of Ally. Akuma then continued on.

“Anyway, Soul Crystals are gems that hold extraordinary dark powers. They’re extremely hard to find, so I don’t know how one ended up in that junk pile, **KUMA!** ”

“Hm. Soul Crystals…I think I’ve heard of them.” Schezo said.

“Really? You have?” Arle asked him.

“I don’t have that much knowledge on them, but I do know that my ancestors had a whole collection of them, until they were destroyed in the war aside from a small few. They must have scattered farther than the legends say they did.”

“Woah. The fact that a Soul Crystal managed to end up in a completely different dimension. That’s some serious power.”

“Guess that explains why they were destroyed.” Lemres said.

“Well, most of them.” Schezo said.

“ ***Ahem*** While this information was helpful, may I continue with my explanation?” Akuma asked.

“Oh, right. My apologizes.”

“Continuing on, when the Dimensional Mirror and the Soul Crystal came together, it created a rip in space time, reaching dimensions the mirror couldn’t reach before. Thus, bringing Arle and Schezo here.”

“I got a question.”

“Yes, Amitie?”

“When the Dimensional Mirror was active, it shot out six lightning bolts into the sky. If Arle and Schezo count as two, are there four others who were brought here from their world?”

“Possibly. But who these people are or where they ended up, I can’t say.”

“Uh…hey, Akuma? C-Can I ask something?” Arle said.

“I probably already know what it is, but ask away, **KUMA!** ”

“…I-It there anyway for us to get back home?”

“Unfortunately, when the Dimensional Mirror brought you, Schezo, and the other four here, it shattered in half, ceasing to exist.”

“So…that mean…”

“I’m afraid that you are stuck here. I’m so sorry, **MA, KUMA, KUMA!!!** ”

“Oh. Okay then.” Arle sounded really depressed after hearing that there’s no chance of her getting home.

“Hey…Arle. It’s okay. It’s not all bad.” Schezo said, trying to comfort his friend.

“Schezo’s right, Arle! You’ve got us! We’ll be there for you all the way!” I said.

“T-Thank you, Amitie. I know what you said is true and all, but…” Arle went silent again, trying to hold back her tears.

“You miss Carbuncle, do you?”

Arle silently shook her head _yes_.

“Carbuncle? What happened to him?” Schezo asked.

“From what Arle told us, he was left behind when the riff broke out and brought her here.”

“Oh. I see. Arle, I’m so sorry.”

“No. Don’t be, Schezo.” Arle said, regaining her confidence. “As long as I think that Carby’s happy, then my heart can be at ease.”

“That’s a good thing to say, Arle.” Raffina said.

“Thank you, Raffina.”

“Well then, this is a sad moment to live by. How’s about we all go to the parlor and eat some ice cream, shall we?” Lemres suggested.

“Woohoo! Free ice cream!” Yu said.

“You still have to pay.”

“Aw phooey.”

“Yu, I have money.” Rei said.

“Awesome! Thanks, Rei!” Yu cheered as she hugged her twin brother.

“You coming too, Akuma?” Lemres asked him.

“I’ll pass. The Dimensional Mirror may be gone for good, but there are still some Soul Crystals out there somewhere. I must continue my research on them.” Akuma said.

“I see.”

“That, and I’m lactose intolerant, **KUMA!** ”

“Oh, right. That would be bad. See you later then.”

“Farewell, everyone, **MA, KUMA, KUMA!!!** ” Akuma said as the rest of walked out the office.

 

After we ate some ice cream, Lemres, Yu, and Rei went home. So it was just our recently formed group of six. We were standing outside the parlor figuring out what to do next.

“So Schezo, where are you going from here?” Lidelle asked.

“Not really sure. Might just go back to that cave I ended up in when I first came here.” Schezo said.

“What? Really? A cave? Is that really okay?”

“Well, I don’t really have any other options.”

“Nonsense! You can come stay with me.” Raffina suddenly said.

“Huh? Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

“I insist. No friend of mine is going to live in a cave.”

“Well, then. Thank you, Raffina. I shall _take advantage_ of your _sweet innocent kindness_.”

“…”

“Although, you are going to have to work on that speech thing of yours.” Raffina said with a somewhat uncomfortable blush on her face.

“Oh, right. My apologizes.” Schezo said, embarrassed for what he just said.

After we went our separate ways, Me, Ally, and Arle went back to my house to call it a day. When we got inside, we saw something that was surprising to Ally and Arle. Not so much for me, though.

“Woah.” Ally said.

“That’s amazing.” Arle added.

“Get really real.” I said.

As it turns out, Mom had slept through the entire day, in the **EXACT** same spot where we left her this morning.     

 


	4. The First Date

**Raffina’s POV**

 

It was 8:30 in the morning when I heard a ringing sound next to me getting louder and louder. I came out from under my covers to see that my alarm went off.

“Geez, did I forget to turn this damn thing off?” I said as I threw the clock against the wall. A few minutes after that, I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I got out of bed and brushed my teeth.

I went downstairs to the dining room to see that nobody was except for Amira, who was scroll through her phone but then looked up when I came in the room.

“Hey, morning, Raffina! Had any sweet, passionate, and possibly wet dreams lately?” She greeted me.

“W-What the hell?! What kind of question is that?!” I asked with a mildly blushed face, not expecting to be asked such a question this early in the morning by my own sister.

“What? I’m just curious.”

“Like I’m going to tell you! Geez, it’s weird stuff like that the reason why Schezo left.”

**_ONE WEEK EARLIER…_ **

Last night was probably one of the more stressful ones I’ve had. After convincing Schezo to come stay with me, we went to my house and ran into Amira near the entrance. She immediately jumped to conclusions. _Weird_ conclusions.

“ **OH MY GOD, RAFFINA!** I didn’t know you were into threesomes!” She yelled.

“ **W-WHAT?! NO! THAT’S NOT IT AT ALL!** ” I yelled back.

“It isn’t? _Aww._ ”

_Why did she sound disappointed when I said that?_

“So who is this guy then?” She asked.

“This is Schezo, a **FRIEND** of mine. It’s a long story on how we met, so don’t ask.”

“ _Long_ story, huh?” Amira then looked at Schezo with a smirk on her face. “So tell me, boy. How _long_ was it? 10 minutes? 15? 20 even?” She asked him.

“Huh? How long was what?” Schezo asked while being really confused.

“ _You know…_ ” Amira said. She then demonstrated what she meant with her right index finger and her left hand making an “o” shape. When she put the two together…

“ **A-AMIRA!!!** ” I yelled, then dragged Schezo away before he got any wrong ideas.

“You’re going to have to do it eventually, Raffina. With or without _the thing_.”

“ **SHUT THE HELL UP!!!** ”

I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life. Luckily, Schezo let the whole thing sly after I told him who Amira was. But after a couple days of similar conversations, Schezo got uncomfortable and annoyed (but mostly annoyed) at it and went back to that cave he mentioned earlier. And I honestly don’t blame him. I mean, I love my sister, especially since she came looking for me near the forest that one day, but she is a handful sometimes.

**_PRESENT TIME_ **

“Well, it’s not my fault that he can’t take a joke.” Amira said.

“Seriously, you’re spending way too much time with Melody.” I said while squeezing the top of my nose.

“Hey, what can I say? We have a lot in common.”

“Too much in common.”

“Hey!”

“Alright settle down now, you two. Breakfast is ready.” Said a woman entering the dining room.

“Yes, Lily.” We both said.

Lily is our maid that also lives with us. She’s been taking care of us ever since we were little due to our parents always traveling for business. She herself is a beautiful woman around the same age as Melody and Ms. Accord. She has long, brown hair, brown eyes, and a slim body. She’s also single, which is surprising because if you take a look at her you might instantly fall in love with her.

“Hey, Lily. When are you going to get yourself a man?” Amira asked. Apparently, she had the same thought as me. Not the exact thought, but it was close.

“M-Miss Amira, please! That’s not something we should be talking about!” Lily stammered with a slight blush on her face.

“ _Aw_ , come on! Look at you. You’re still young, pretty, and sexy. You should be out there finding your true love instead of being stuck here taking care of us.”

“Hold on. Who said I was stuck here? I enjoyed taking care of you girls and I still do to this day.”

“I know, but we just want you to be happy. I mean, Raffina’s got a true love and she’s nearly half your age.”

“ **AMIRA!** ” I yelled after nearly chocking on a waffle piece. Amira looked at me and realized that she made a mistake.

“…W-Wait…did you not tell her?” She asked.

“ **NO I DIDN’T TELL HER!** ”

“Oops. S-Sorry.”

“Miss Raffina, what is Miss Amira talking about?” Lily asked.

“Uh…well…” I honestly had no idea what to say. I didn’t plan on telling Lily about my relationship with Amitie until it was serious enough, as it’s only been a month since we became lovers. But thanks to Amira’s big mouth, I had to think of something to ease her suspicions.

“…And don’t even bother lying to me. I know when you're lying.” Lily added.

_Damn! Now I’m out of ideas! Guess I don’t have a choice now but to tell her the truth._

“Alright, I’ll tell you.” I said with a slight moan. I stayed silent for a few seconds to regain my confidence, then began to confess.

“Yes, it’s true that I’m in a relationship. But…it’s not a normal one, as some would say.”

“What do you mean by _normal_?” Lily asked.

“W-Well…” I was nervous as hell at this point. While the others found out by pure chance, this was the first time I was actually telling someone of my lesbian relationship. And to my maid no less. Well, better her than my parents.

“…Y-You see, the person I’m dating…is a girl.”

“O-Oh. I-I see.” Lily said while blushing.

The room went silent after that. I had an uncomfortable blush on my face, and so did Lily. The only thing that broke the 35 second silence was Amira when her phone rang and she answered it.

“Hey, Mel. Now’s not a good time. Something awkward is happening right now. I’ll text you later.” She said before hanging up the phone.

“W-Well…this is a surprise. I didn’t think you swung that way, Miss Raffina.” Lily said, regaining her urge to talk.

“M-Me neither. Well, not at first, anyway.” I said.

“Do you love her?”

“Of course! With all my heart! I can never think of being without her!”

“Okay, then. That’s all I needed to hear.”

“Huh? You mean you’re okay with us?”

“Of course I am, Miss Raffina. It wouldn’t be fair to you if I wasn’t.”

“Thank you, Lily.”

“Just one more question. How did you two meet?”

“Well, her name’s Amitie and she moved her a couple months ago with her mom, Melody. When we met each other in school, it was love at first sight.” I decided to leave out the assault and Puyo Hat incidents because it’s too much to look back on. So I went with the cheesiest thing I can think of.

“W-Wait, did you say her mother, Melody?!” Lily asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Well…I used to know a girl named Melody back in high school, but I haven’t seen or heard from her since she graduated. I’m pretty sure it’s just a coincidence, though.”

“Well, you can find out yourself later today.” Amira said.

“Huh? Why’s that?” I asked.

“Because I just invited Melody over to hang out. She’ll be here at around noon.”

“ **W-W-W-W-WHAT?! MISS AMIRA! WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A THING?!** ” Lily shouted with a panicked, shrieky voice.

“Well you said that you weren’t sure if it was the same Melody from high school, so I’m doing you a favor.”

“Geez, Amira. What made you think that was a good idea?” I asked her.

“I told her to bring Amitie with her.” Amira said with a wink.

“ **Y-YOU DID WHAT?!** ”

“Hey, I did you a favor too. You should be thanking me.”

“ **THANK YOU?!** ”

“ _Aw_ , you’re welcome, little sis.”

I paid no attention to the fact that Amira just tricked me into thanking her for what she did. Right now, my girlfriend was coming over to my house, and I wasn’t ready in the slightest.

“Excuse me, but I’m going to take a shower.” I said.

“Uh, yes. Me as well.” Lily added.

The both of us then left the dining room and headed upstairs to our rooms, leaving Amira there with a confused look on her face.

 

By the time I got out the shower it was 10am, so I had 2 hours to think of something to do with Amitie. I threw on an orange and white t-shirt with some black shorts and laid on my bed with a notepad brainstorming some ideas. After about 30 minutes, I came up with nothing. I laid in my bed with my pillow over my face, mad at myself for not thinking of anything when I heard a knock at my bedroom door.

“Miss Raffina, may I come in?” A voice said.

“Come in, Lily.” I answered.

Lily opened the door and closed it behind her. She smelled like she came out the shower as well, but she still had her teal-colored maid outfit on, as it’s part of her uniform.

“Miss Raffina, this letter just came in. It says here that it’s from your parents.” Lily said once she entered the room.

“My parents, huh? Let me see.” I said as I took the letter from Lily. As I read the letter, I started with being confused, then sad, and then ended it with anger as I crumbled the piece paper and threw it in the trash bin.

The letter read:

_Dear Raffina,_

_We just want to say Happy Birthday to our youngest daughter! Unfortunately, due to our busy work, we won’t be able to come home to celebrate with you. So we got you these tickets to an amusement park that you can go with one of your friends. Hope you have fun, and we’ll see you soon!_

_Love you,_

_Mom and Dad._

_P.S. Say hello to Amira for us._

“M-Miss Raffina…are you all right?”

“ **OH YEAH! I’M PERFECTLY FINE, LILY! BECAUSE NOT HAVING MY OWN PARENTS CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY WITH ME FOR THE 11 TH YEAR IN A ROW MAKES ME THE HAPPIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD!**”

“I-I’m sorry for asking.” Lily was clinching in fear by the door.

“No, I’m sorry for yelling. It’s just they do this every year, skipping my birthday because they find their work more important.”

“You can’t seriously believe that’s true, do you?”

“How can I not, Lily? It’s been 11 years since I’ve seen my parents! **11 YEARS!** They’ve missed everything that I’ve done! My first day of school, my first baby tooth falling out, my first friend, not to mention my body changing and all that. And now, they’re going to miss my 16 th birthday, my first day of high school, and mostly importantly, my first love.” I said all that while trying to hold back my tears. I guess Lily noticed I was doing such a thing, because she next to me on my bed, brought me closer and held me tight.

“It’s okay, Miss Raffina.” She said as she repeatedly rubbed my head gently. I felt myself about to cry and not long after released my tears all over Lily’s maid outfit.

“Lily…why are my parents such jerks?” I asked, though it was barely audible due to my heavy tears.

“I truly can’t answer that, Miss Raffina. All I know is that they’re trying their best to support you and Miss Amira.”

“T-Thank you, Lily. I feel a little better now.”

Lily lets go of me and gets off my bed as she headed for the door.

“By the way, what do you plan on doing with those tickets?” She asked.

“Oh, right. I’m actually not sure. I’ll probably just sell them or something. I’ve got no use for them.”

“Oh, I see. Well, your friend should be here in about an hour, so that should give you enough time.”

“Okay. Thank you. Lily.”

Lily exits my room and leaves me to stare at these amusement park tickets, wondering what to do with them.

 

“Raffina…Raffina!”

“H-Huh? Oh. Amira. What is it?”

“Come on, wake up! Amitie and Melody are here!”

“Huh? It’s been an hour already? _Ugh._ I must’ve fallen asleep. And I still don’t know what to do with these tickets.”

“Well, that’s your problem. Me and Mel are going to watch a movie.”

“Mel?”

“You know, Melody. I gave her a nickname.”

“And she’s okay with that?”

“It was her idea.”

“Huh.”

“Now, come on! They’re waiting for us downstairs. I don’t know where Lily went so I had to open the door and keep them occupied.”

“Okay, Okay! I’m coming!”

I left my room and went downstairs to the living room, where Amitie and Melody were waiting.

“Hey, Amitie. Hey, Melody.” I greeted them.

“Raffina!” Amitie shouted as she ran up to me and hugged me real tight while I did the same.

“ _Love is in the air!_ ” Melody said in a teasing tone.

“Shut up, Mom.” Amitie said, which made Melody and Amira laugh.

“Anyway, Mel. We still got 15 minutes until the movie starts. Want a quick bite to eat?” Amira asked her.

“Mel?” Amitie whispered to me.

“Apparently, your mom wanted a nickname.” I whispered back.

“Okay then…”

“Sure, I can go for some food.” Melody said.

“Especially since you woke up for the day an hour ago.” Amitie said to her.

“You just had to bring that up, did you?”

“Yes. Yes I did.”

Just then we heard the front door open and close, and footsteps getting closer to the living room.

“Sorry I’m late.” Lily said

“Geez, Lily. Where were you? I was looking for you everywhere.” Amira said to her.

“Miss Amira, I went to the store. I told you before I left remember?”

“Huh?” Amira didn’t know what Lily was talking about. But after thinking about it, she did remember. “O-Oh yeah, I remember you saying something earlier, but I had my music blasting loud. Sorry.”

“ _sigh._ ” Lily sighed out of annoyance.

“Anyway, now that our maid’s here, what do you want to eat, Mel?”

“…”

“Mel?”

Melody didn’t say anything. For some reason she was starring intensely at Lily. I looked over at Lily and she was doing the same thing.

“No…way! Lily?! Is that you?!” Melody shouted.

“M-Melody-senpai! I-It really is you!” Lily also shouted.

“Melody… _senpai?_ ” Me, Amira, and Amitie said in total confusion. When Lily realized what she just said, she started blushing like crazy.

“Oh, geez. Here I am, a grown woman, and I’m still calling you that.” She said, completely embarrassed of herself.

“ _Aw_. I forgot how cute you look when you’re embarrassed.” Melody said.

“K-Knock it off, Melody-senpai! **GAH!** I did it again!”

“ **AH HA!** I knew it! You two do know each other!” Amira shouted.

“Was that the only reason you invited them here?” I asked her.

“It wasn’t the _only_ reason. More like 95% of it.”

I did a huge sigh while covering most my face with a facepalm.

“Uh, Raffina…what’s going on?” Amitie asked me with a confused look.

“Well, you see that woman over there hiding her face in embarrassment?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s our maid, Lily. Apparently, she and Melody went to school together.”

“Really?! Mom, is that true?”

“Yep! Although Lily here is a year younger than me. Hence the cute nickname.” Melody said.

“It’s not a cute nickname! It’s an honorific!” Lily shyly yelled.

“Yeah…but you sound _so_ cute when you say it!”

“ _Nya!_ Melody-senpai! Please stop already!”

“Alright, alright.” Melody said while waving her hand. “But all teasing aside, I really did miss you, Lily.”

“Y-You did?”

“Of course! And I know Harmony and Rulue felt the same way.”

“Really?”

“Positive.”

“That really means a lot, Melody-senpai.”

“Hey, you want to watch a movie with us? We could catch up with each other during the commercials.”

“Well…as long as it’s okay with Miss Amira.”

“Hey, I don’t mind. In fact, I want to know more about the two of you.” Amira said.

“Then I’ll be happy to join you two.”

“Hey, Ami. You want to watch too?” Melody asked.

“I’ll pass. I want to spend some time with Raffina.” Amitie said.

“ _Spend some time,_ huh?” Both Melody and Amira said with a cheeky smile.

“ **IT’S NOT LIKE THAT!!!** ” Both me and Amitie yelled out and I pulled Amitie’s arm upstairs so they wouldn’t see us anymore.

“Why must you two tease those girls?” I heard Lily ask.

“Well, I got to tease somebody since you’re an adult now, Lily.” Melody said.

“I’m not sure if I should be glad or worried about that.”

 

**Amitie’s POV**

 

I didn’t really expect anything to happen today, so I was just lounging around at home. But when Mom told me that Amira had invited us to their house, I was so excited my heart couldn’t stop beating…well, not that I want it to stop.

I was so excited that I was going to Raffina’s house for the first time that didn’t even dress normally. I just threw on a red and white t-shirt and some black shorts, all while telling Mom to hurry up. Did I mention that I was excited?

When we got there and after the whole thing with Mom and her friend from high school, Raffina pulled me up by my arm upstairs to her room. Once the door was close, we both wrapped our arms around each other and brought our lips together for a sweet, passionate kiss. One that lasted for more than 15 seconds. But after a while, we did have to break apart to catch our breath.

“It felt _so_ good to do that without Lidelle retorting us afterwards.” I said when I gained enough oxygen.

“I know right? I don’t know why she keeps doing that.” Raffina said.

“Y’know, I think she’s jealous.”

“Of us?”

“Well, maybe not us specifically. I think she wants to love someone too.”

“Really? What made you think that?”

“Well…have you noticed that Lidelle’s been blushing a lot lately?”

“Now that you mention it, yeah she has been doing that a lot. And it’s usually whenever Ally compliments her or something…”

Raffina took a second to think about what she just said, then gained a surprised look when she realized what it could be.

“W-Wait! Are you saying…Lidelle _likes_ Ally?! Like, in _that_ way?!” She asked.

“W-Well, I’m not sure myself, but it’s starting to look that way.”

“Woah.”

“Anyway, let’s not talk about that. I’m more interested in your room.”

“What about it?”

“It’s so girly.”

“ **CAN WE PLEASE JUST DROP THE GIRLY THING ALREADY?!** ” Raffina said with a mild blush of embarrassment.

“ _Aw_ , come on, Raffina. I already said your girliness is cute.” I said while giggling at her reaction.

“Yeah, but…I don’t want to only be known as _girly_.”

I gave Raffina a quick peck on her left cheek.

“Silly, you’re more than just _girly_ to me.” I said.

“Yeah. I know.”

I looked around Raffina’s room and it was an obvious sign that she loves the colors pink and orange. Almost everything there was those two colors. The only thing that wasn’t was a desk on the left side of the room. I walked towards it and noticed an envelope with two tickets sticking out of it.

“Hey, Raffina. What’s these tickets for?” I asked her while holding them. Raffina suddenly grew a faint frown on her face.

“Oh, those. Those are just amusement park tickets my parents sent me for my birthday.” She said while sounding depressed.

“You don’t seem too excited about it.”

“Well…that’s because this isn’t the first time they done this. My parents are always working overseas and they haven’t been here to celebrate my birthday with me.”

“Really? How long has this happen?”

“July 25th will make it 11 years.”

“E-Eleven years?! You haven’t seen your parents in 11 years?!”

“Yeah. And they think sending me these damn tickets every year is going to fix everything. Such jerks!”

Raffina attempted to hold in her tears, but ended up failing to do so as they ran down her face. I sat down next to her on her bed and hugged her until she felt better.

“T-Thanks, Amitie.” She said after kissing my cheek. I looked at the tickets that were still in my hand and it gave me an idea.

“Hey, Raffina. There’s two tickets here…why don’t we go?” I asked.

“Huh? You mean the two of us?”

“Yeah. None of Lidelle’s retorting, none of Ally’s perverted comments, none of Mom and Amira’s teasing, it’ll just be us two.”

“L-Like a…d-date?”

I froze a bit after hearing that _one_ word at the end.

“O-Oh, y-yeah. I-I guess it would be a…d-date.” I stuttered with a high blush on my face.

“N-Not to mention, our…f-first one.” Raffina said, doing the exact same thing I was doing.

“…”

“…”

“N-Not that I have a problem with that! In fact, I’m actually excited!” Raffina continued.

“Y-Yeah, me too! I mean, spending the whole day at an amusement park with my girlfriend. Why wouldn’t I be excited?” I said.

“Thank you, Amitie. It may not be my birthday yet, but this is truly the best birthday gift I’ve ever gotten.”

“Happy Early Birthday, Raffina.”

We inched closer to each other to perform another sweet and magical kiss. Until…

“Hey, Ami! Time to go!”

“ **AHHH!** ” We both screamed.

What we screamed to was Mom, who had barged in here without a care in the world.

“M-Melody-senpai! You should learn to knock before entering someone’s room!” Raffina’s maid Lily said standing behind her.

“Aw, it’s no sweat, Lily. I do it all the time.” Amira said while entering the room.

“You should learn to knock as well, Miss Amira.”

“Hey, Amitie. Do you want to go tomorrow?” While the three adults were talking to each other, Raffina turned to me and whispered said question to me.

“Yeah. I would like that very much.” I whispered back. We then sat on the bed and watched as Mom, Amira, and Lily continue to argue with each other.

 

“For the last time Ally, you can’t come!”

“ _Aw_ , but Ami, I’m _borrred_!”

“Play a game or something!”

“But they’re _borrring_!”

“ _sigh_.”

It was the next day and I was getting ready to meet up with Raffina for our first date to the amusement park. I couldn’t stop thinking about it from the moment I left Raffina’s house. I was so jittery that I had trouble sleeping last night. I did eventually get some sleep, but as of right now I’m still jittery.

“So, what’s this place your going to called again?” Arle asked.

“It’s called an amusement park, Arle.” I said.

“Really? You guys go to a park to get amusement? That’s…kind of weird.”

“It’s not an actual park.”

“Oh…I don’t get it.”

“ _sigh_. Look, Arle. Based on what happened with the phone thing, it’s best that I just show you what everything is. Not today, but someday.”

“Oh, okay then.”

Once I was done brushing my hair, I stood by the front door and put my shoes on. I was wearing the same outfit from yesterday due to the heat we’ve been getting, plus it matched my shoes well. I opened the front door to see a surprise I wasn’t expecting.

“Hey, what are you doing here? I thought we were going to meet down the road.” I asked to Raffina, who was standing outside.

“Sorry, I just couldn’t wait. I also had something quick planned before we go.” She said.

“Really? What is it?”

“It’s a secret. You’ll just have to wait till we get there.”

“Well, whatever it is, I know it’ll be good cause it’s from you.”

“ _Aw_ geez, Amitie.” Raffina was blushing at this point.

I came out of my house and walked with Raffina next to me down the block. At one point, I felt Raffina’s had grab on to mine. I didn’t react, thought. As it felt right to be holding hands with my girlfriend.

 

We were walking though the plaza with me being guided by Raffina to this surprise she mentioned earlier. Little did I know, we were making an extra stop to get that surprise.

“Hey, what are we doing at Lemres’ shop?” I asked.

“You’ll see.” Raffina said with a giggle. I was confused, but mostly excited at the same time.

We went inside the shop to see Lemres serving some ice cream to a couple of little kids, who then ran past us in excitement out the door. Lemres then noticed and greeted us with that trademarked smile of his.

“Well hello there, Raffina and Amitie. Nice day today, isn’t it?” He said.

“Sure is, Lemres.” Raffina replied. “You have that thing ready?”

“Ah, yes. It’s in the back. I’ll get it for you.” Lemres said as he went to back of the store.

“Raffina, what’s going on?” I asked.

“Just a bit longer, Amitie.” She said.

Soon after, Lemres came out from the back of the store carrying a small blue bag and planted it on the counter.

“Here it is, all wrapped up for you.” He said.

Raffina paid Lemres with a 50-dollar bill and grabbed the bag from the counter.

“Thanks, Lemres!” She said as she pulled my arm out of the shop.

“Have fun you two.” Lemres said with a tip of his hat.

We were now back to walking though the plaza and my curiosity was killing me. I was dying to know what was in that bag! And apparently Raffina knew this as well.

“Okay, Amitie. You’ve been patient long enough. I’ll tell you what’s in the bag.” She said with a smile.

“Finally! I seriously couldn’t wait much longer!” I shouted. Raffina giggled at my response and began to explain.

“After you left yesterday, I wanted to thank you for all you’ve done. So I went to Lemres’ shop and with his help…I uh…m-made these cookies for us to enjoy during our…d-date.” Raffina said the last part with a light red hue on her cheeks.

“W-Wow, Raffina. That’s so sweet.” I said with the same colored hue on my cheeks.

“I-I’ll let you try some, once we get on the train.”

“Huh? Train?”

“Yeah, I looked up the name of the amusement park and it turns out that it’s all the way in Suzuran.”

“Suzuran? You mean that city where Mom and Ms. Accord went to school together?”

“The very same. It’s actually not that far from here. About a 30-minute ride by train.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, I know. Anyway, we better get going. The train leaves in 10 minutes.”

“O-Oh. Okay then. Let’s go.”

We reached the train station and got on the train heading to Suzuran City. During the ride, I tried one of Raffina’s homemade cookies…and couldn’t believe how they tasted.

“W-Wow. R-Raffina…” I said.

“W-What? You don’t like them?” Raffina said nervously.

“Like them? **I LOVE THEM!** These are the best cookies I’ve ever had!”

“Really?!” Raffina reacted like she was expecting the opposite answer. “W-Well, I’m glad you like them.”

“Wait, if you made these, then why did you give Lemres $50?”

“L-Let’s just say I’m not the best cook…”

“Oh. I get it now.” I said followed by a soft giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Raffina asked, feeling a little insulted.

“Nothing.” I said, then gave Raffina a kiss on the cheek.

 

We got off the train and looked around at our surroundings. We were amazed at what we were seeing.

“Woah. So this is Suzuran City, huh? It’s huge!” I said.

“Yeah, tell me about it. I never thought I’d ever be in a city this big.” Raffina added.

“Hey, didn’t Lidelle say that she has a cousin who lives here?”

“Yeah, she did. Too bad it’s unlikely that we’ll find her in this big city.”

“Yeah, true.”

After a couple minutes of walking though the city (and getting lost in said city), We finally reached the amusement park and were excited for all the fun we were going to have with each other.

“Ready, Amitie?”

“Ready, Raffina.”

We both held each other’s hand and went inside the gates to the park.

 

The day went by really fast. As soon as we got in, the first thing we did was took pictures of each other to show the others when we got back. Then we went on a couple rides, most of them being roller coasters. There was also bumper cars, a merry-go-round, a couple water rides, and a go-kart track. After we took a break and ate at the food bazaar, we went to the arcade they had here and played a few games, where Raffina ended up getting the high score at the skee-ball game and won a giant polar bear plushie, which she gave to me. Afterwards we went to the petting zoo that near the arcade, then we finished it off with a fireworks show that lead to the park closing for the day.

 

On the train ride home, we were talking about the events that happened today and which were our favorites.

“That roller coaster we went on sure was scary, right?” Raffina asked.

“Huh? Scary? Please, I was perfectly fine.” I said.

“You were clinging to my arm during the entire ride and even after we got off it.”

“…”

“It’s okay, scaredy cat.”

“Meanie.”

Raffina giggled at my pouty face. I guess it was payback for me giggling at her for not being a good cook.

“Still, I can’t believe you were so good at skee-ball.” I said.

“Well to be honest, I’ve never played it before. I guess all those martial arts classes really did pay off.”

“Really? You did martial arts?”

“Yeah. I did some when I was 12 and was the top of my class. I would’ve continued doing it if my teacher didn’t suddenly quit on us.”

“Why’d he quit?”

“Turns out he ran away with one of my classmates, both claiming that they were in love with each other. The classmate was 13 at the time, mind you.”

“E-Ew.”

“Yeah, you could see why I stopped.”

“But would you go back to doing it if you had the chance?”

“Well…if the teacher was female, then yeah sure, why not?”

“I see.”

We got off the train and starred at the sunset in front of us. I snuggled up against Raffina and held her tight with my arm around her.

“I really had fun today, Raffina.” I said.

Raffina didn’t say anything and instead kept starring at the sunset.

“Raffina?”

“Hey, Amitie. I’ve been thinking…” She said.

“Of what?”

“How did you get the nickname _Ami_?”

“Well, when I was beginning to become aware of my surroundings, Mom started calling me Ami because she said it was easier to say. Then Ally picked it up and soon all of my friends were calling me that. It didn’t really bother me, though.”

“I see.”

“Also, when I first met Yu and Rei, they told me that my name means _friendship_ in French.”

“It does?”

“I know, I was shocked too. Who knew that Mom knew a little French?”

“I admit, that is surprising.”

“What brought this on, anyway?”

“U-Um…w-well…” Raffina started blushing real hard this time. I didn’t know what she was trying to say, but based on the conversation we just had, I could take a guess.

“Y-You know, Raffina…you can call me Ami if you want to.”

“I-I can? B-But I don’t really have a nickname of my own.”

I thought about it, then came up with one that could work for Raffina.

“Well…how about _Raffi_?” I said.

“Raffi? Sounds kind of cheesy.”

“Hey, I’m trying to help, you know!”

“Alright, alright. It’s a cute name, I’ll admit that.”

“So…”

“Yes, I’ll use it.”

“Yay!”

I cheered as I grabbed Raffina by the waist and pulled her close to me for a tight hug. I felt Raffina’s arms around my waist and hugged me as tight as I was. We both looked up and starred at each other’s face in pure bliss.

“I love you, Ami.”

“I love you too, Raffi.”

We both brought ours heads together and kissed underneath the sunset, which shortly after became a starry night sky.


	5. Heart-Throbbing Havoc

**Lidelle’s POV**

 

_Takes place on the same day Amitie and Raffina go to the amusement park._

I wake up to the sound of my alarm ringing and move over to shut it off. While doing so, I look at the time that read on the clock.

_5:00am_

“ ***yawn*** It’s that time already?” I said to myself.

I got out of bed and changed out of my pj’s into a green sweater and some white shorts. After I brushed my teeth, I grabbed my hairbrush and brushed my hair…well, tried to, I should say. I kept starring at the mirror’s reflection of myself, mainly the top of my head. That’s where two pointy things stuck out of my hair. And I honestly hated these things.

“ _sigh._ Why was I born with these things? It’s embarrassing.”

The _things_ I was referring to were my horns. I’m the only girl in this town who has them, and I’m ashamed of this fact. I say “only girl” because there’s a guy I know who also has horns. But I really don’t want to talk about him. I try to keep my horns hidden underneath my hair as much as possible, with my current hairstyle being the closest I’ve gotten to hide it completely. No one knows about my secret except Ms. Accord, Akuma, Lemres, and my parents. And hopefully it stays that way.

I went to the front door to grab my shoes and opened the door to get outside. As I’ve said before, I’m a shrine maiden. And shrine maidens tend to do a ton of work. The walk itself would be enough for most people, but I’ve been doing this since I was a kid, so I’m used to it by now. For starters, I have to clean up around the shrine, mainly sweeping the pavement and cleaning the windows and statues. Once that’s done, I check around the gift shop area to see if anything was stolen. That’s never happened yet, but I still check anyways. Once everything’s done at the shrine, I go from there to the grocery store to pick up stuff to cook for breakfast. Then I go home to cook said breakfast for my family. Usually before I start cooking, I go to the garden at the back to water the flowers, feed the koi fish, and one other thing. As I finish feeding the fish, I feel something nudging on me in a soft way. I start to smile a bit because I know who’s doing it.

“Hey, Poochy! You ready for a walk?” I ask.

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“Okay, go get your leash!”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

Poochy is my pet dog that I take care of. Well…technically, he’s not a dog. In fact, I really don’t know what he is. He’s pale white, almost like a ghost, with one black eye and missing the other. He’s the size of a small puppy, so he has a lot of energy, but is also very fragile. When I found him in the rain one day, he was the shape of a raindrop. A giant raindrop. He looked sad, lonely, and hungry. I really didn’t want to leave him there, so I took him home with me, warmed him up and gave him some food. When my parents came home that same day, I asked if I could keep him. At first, they were against the idea because like me they had no idea what he was. Then my mom mentioned something about a dog, and out of the blue, he turned himself into a dog, even started acting like one. It was weird, but also cute at the same time. My parents decided that I could keep it if I took care of it. Since then, he’s turned into a flower, a koi fish, a bird, a rabbit, he’s even made himself to look like Dongurigaeru and Onion Pixy, despite never meeting them. But he spends most of the time being a dog, and I gave him the name Poochy cause it sounded cute. And he and I have been together ever since.

Poochy came running towards me with his black leash in his mouth, dropping it in front me and standing on his hind legs.

“Good boy!” I said while rubbing his pale white fur (or skin).

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

Poochy started licking my cheek in gratitude and I put him in the leash. I took him out through the front door and we started walking down the block. Every so often, Poochy would stop walking just to stare at some random thing. He would stare at it with an intense glare, start growling, and attempt to charge at it.

“Poochy, no!” I said.

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“Poochy, it doesn’t do anything. Just like the other stuff you’re starred at.”

“ _ARF ARF ARF!_ ”

“You’re a weird…thing, you know that?”

**_*whine*_ **

“Yes, I still love you.”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ” Poochy licked my cheek again and we continued our walk.

Usually when I walk Poochy this early in the morning, I like to look at the sky. The way the sunrise mixes with the starry night sky is a beautiful sight, at least for me. It goes well with the empty streets of Primp. The cool breeze blowing though my hair also relaxes me of the stress from my shrine maiden work, school, and trying to keep my secret from coming out. Most people would dread being up this early, but for me, it’s the most peaceful part of my day.

Me and Poochy finally came home and I took him off the leash to let him go to the garden. I then got out the stuff I bought at the grocery store and prepared to cook breakfast.

“Let’s see…what to make?” I asked myself. I scrolled through a cooking app on my phone looking for something to cook, when something caught my eye.

“Triple chocolate chip pancakes, with bacon, egg, and cheese omelets and sloppy joe biscuits as side dishes… _oh it sounds so delicious!_ But do I really have enough time to cook all that?”

I look at the clock on my phone and saw that it was already 6:45am. I then looked at the recipe list to check how long each dish would take to make.

“Huh…the pancakes and the omelets take 10 minutes each, and the sloppy joe biscuits take 5 minutes. No problem. I can totally make all of this in 25 minutes. Even less, maybe.”

I got the stuff needed for each dish and started cooking. It took me about 20 minutes to make all three dishes enough for me and my family. I cleaned the kitchen and waited in the living room with the food for everyone to wake up. While doing so, I remembered that forgot to do one more thing.

“Poochy! Breakfast!” I yelled outside the garden.

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

Poochy ran inside the house and tackled me down, despite me being bigger than him. He continued to lick me all over my face until I had to force him off me.

“Silly thing. I’m not breakfast.”

“ _ARF ARF ARF!_ ”

“Well I see that thing really likes you, Lidelle.” Said a new voice entering the living room.

“Oh. Good morning, Mother.” I greeted her with a bow.

“Good morning to you too, Lidelle.” Mother greeted me, returning the bow.

My mother is basically an older version of me. She and I have the same facial features, and her green hair is longer than mine. She’s also known to be very shy and timid, like me. The only difference between us is that mother doesn’t have horns. They came from my father, who died a month after I found Poochy due to illness. And it wasn’t a normal illness, either. You see, my father…was a demon. Not “demon” as in a way to describe someone bad, I mean he was an **ACTUAL** demon. In fact, he was known as the demon king. He told me that as a teen, he snuck out of hell one day and came here to the human world just to cause trouble. But that day, he met my mother, who didn’t know he was the demon king at the time, and the two fell in love. He eventually told her his true identity, but it didn’t change her mind on who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. They eventually got married and had two children, my older brother and me. My father continued to be the demon king, and my brother was fascinated by his evil doings. He learned everything dark and sinister from him, and when Father died, he took over as the demon king. He still comes over to visit, but when he does, he talks non-stop about this girl name Aruru that he says he’s fallen in love with. And from what he’s told me, she keeps rejecting him. I love my brother, but he’s so clueless.

“I hope you enjoy today’s breakfast, Mother.” I said.

Mother took a look at what was on the table and was a bit skeptical.

“Uh, Lidelle…what **exactly** is for breakfast?” She asked.

“Triple chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, egg, and cheese omelets, and sloppy joe biscuits.” I said.

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“I know, Poochy! It sounds so good, it makes your mouth water!”

“Sweetie…are you having another growth spurt?”

“Why do you always relate my appetite to a growth spurt?”

“Well, sweetie, you are still growing. In height, weight…and chest.”

“ **M-MOTHER! CAN WE PLEASE NOT TALK ABOUT MY CHEST?! IT’S BAD ENOUGH THAT THEY’RE SO SMALL!** ”

“Come on now, Lidelle. They’re not **THAT** small. They’re bigger then they were last year.”

“Not that much.”

“It takes time, you know.”

“C-Can we please just eat now, Mother?”

“I-I’m not sure if I can finish this.”

“ _ARF ARF ARF!_ ”

“Poochy said he’ll eat what’s left over.”

“He has just as big of an appetite as you, dear.”

After that uncomfortable conversation (uncomfortable for me, that is), me and Mother began eating breakfast while I gave Poochy a bite of my food after every 7 bites I took. Like Mother said earlier, she didn’t finish her food. So Poochy ate the rest. When everyone was done eating, I grabbed the plates and went to the kitchen to wash them. While I was doing so, Mother came in the kitchen and stood next to me.

“So, Lidelle, what do you plan on doing today?” She asked.

“Hm. Not sure. My friends Amitie and Raffina are going to an amusement park today for their first date, so I’ll have to think of something.” I said.

“Oh? Their first date? Didn’t you tell me that they started dating 3 months ago?”

“Yeah. Those two are weird. They spent most of that time just cuddling with each other. It wasn’t until yesterday that they realized they haven’t been on a date yet.”

“Well, that’s just young love.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So you’ll be by yourself today?”

“Most likely. I’ll probably go for a walk after this. See if I could find something to do.”

“Okay, then. I’ll be here reading a book or two. Have fun.”

“Thank you, Mother.”

After I finished washing the dishes, I let Poochy back out to the garden and went out though the front door and started walking down the path from my house, thinking of things that only take one person to do.

 

Due to my intense self-thinking, I ended up walking all the way to the plaza without realizing it. It’s pretty far my house, so I was shocked that I walked that far while spaced-out like that.

“Woah…I can’t believe I walked this far out. I must be more relaxed than I thought.” I said to myself.

I continued walking through the plaza when I noticed that I was a few feet away from Lemres’ sweets shop. I looked at the time, which was a quarter to 9, and then felt my hand on my stomach.

“Even though I just ate, it shouldn’t be a problem if I ate a little more.”

“…”

“ _sigh_. Maybe I do have another growth spurt.”

I walked a few more feet and opened the door to the sweets shop. There I saw Lemres at the counter counting the money from the register.

“Good morning, Mr. Lemres.” I said.

“Ah, Lidelle. Wasn’t expecting to see you today. What can I do for you?” Lemres asked.

“One double mocha ice cream sundae please.”

“Really? This early? You didn’t eat breakfast?”

“I did…”

“ ***chuckle*** Having another growth spurt, are we now?”

“Please don’t remind me, Mr. Lemres.”

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll go get you that sundae.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lemres.”

The reason why Lemres knows about me getting growth spurts so often is because he used to baby sit me when I was little. Apparently my father was real close to the comet warlocks, and Lemres was 13 at the time. So whenever my father and my brother were off doing something hell related and Mother had to work, Lemres would come over and watch me until one of them got home. Mainly Mother, the other two would be out till late at night. He’s the one who discovered my excessive appetite, and knew how to dealt with it.

“Here you go, one double mocha ice cream sundae, made just the way you like it.” Lemres said as he place the sundae bowl in front of me.

“Thank you, Mr. Lemres.” I said while grabbing the nearest spoon and shoving a big scoop into my mouth. “ _Oooo!_ So good!”

“Ha-ha, this treat always was your favorite, even back then.”

“But back then, I would eat anything I could get my hands on.”

“You still do.”

“Hey…”

“ ***chuckle*** Sorry, sorry.”

I ate the whole sundae about five minutes later and Lemres took the bowl to wash it. I sat on the stool rubbing my stomach in satisfaction while trying to hold in a burp. I ended up failing to do so.

“So, what are you doing after this?” Lemres asked after he finished washing the bowl.

“Not sure. It’s going to be a little boring without Amitie and Raffina around.” I said.

“What about the others?”

“Well, if I hang out with either Arle or Schezo, they’re probably bombard me with questions about everything here, Yu and Rei are probably either working or at home, and I don’t ever plan to go to Nahe Forest, I don’t know where Klug lives, and I’m pretty sure Melody’s still asleep.”

“Hm. What about Ally?”

“Ally? Oh yeah, forgot about her. Well…we do have somethings in common, so we could probably find something to do.”

“I can see that happening.”

“Yeah, but…there’s that perverted side of her.”

“Everyone has flaws, Lidelle. Even you.”

“And what’s **_my_** flaw?”

“Do I really need to say it?”

“Hmph. Meanie.”

“Oh? I haven’t heard that word in a while. _Are we having a hissy fit?_ ”

“Don’t tease me!”

“Ha ha ha! I’ve missed that childish side of you. It’s almost like having a little sister.”

“ _sigh_. Geez, Lemres.”

I got off the stool and patted myself off to get any dust off my clothes. I then headed for the door and opened it halfway before turning back towards Lemres.

“Thanks again for the food. See you around…Lemres-oneechan!” I said in a teasing voice.

“H-Hey!” Lemres reacted with a slight blush on his face.

I smiled, holding in my urge to laugh as walked out the sweets shop with a full belly.

 

I was back outside in the plaza wondering what to do next when I remembered the suggestion Lemres gave me.

_Well…I could spend time with Ally. It wouldn’t be all that bad…aside from her perverted jokes._

I was deep in thought for a while when the tree next to where I was standing started shaking, despite it not being windy. It scared me out of my train of thought and I decided to investigate what was up there. As I got closer to being underneath the tree, I heard a branch break and…

“ **AHH!** ”

“ **AHH!** ”

***THUD***

I fell to the ground with something heavy on top of me. I slowly opened my eyes and lifted my head up to see what it was. Or in this case, _who_.

“A-Ally?!”

“Oh. Hey, Lidelle. Nice weather we’re having, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, if I was asking for raining Allys. Now get off me!”

I pushed Ally off of me and stood back up while dusting myself off again. I then grabbed Ally’s hand and pulled her up.

“What were doing in that tree?” I asked her.

“I was up there because I’m **SO BORED, LIDELLE!** Ami and Raffina went to an amusement park and left me behind with nothing to do!”

“So you climbed a tree?”

“It was the only thing I could think of!”

“Okay…” I didn’t really understand how Ally’s first and only idea to solve her boredom was to climb a tree in the middle of the plaza, but I decided not to question it.

“Anyway, Amitie and Raffina didn’t take with them because it’s their first date. You would just kill the mood.”

“ _sigh_. Yeah, I guess that’s true. But I still have nothing to do.”

“What’s Arle doing?”

“She’s with Schezo checking out some cave he found.”

“And Melody?”

“Still asleep.”

“Really?! It’s almost noon!”

“That’s nothing. That day we went to the museum to learn about that mirror, we came home to see that Melody had slept the entire day.

“The **ENTIRE** day?!”

“Yep. It’s impressive when you think about it.”

_I don’t see it._

“So, that’s why I’m out here.”

“I see. Well, I was just about to go home now. Do you want to come over?”

“Really? I can? You think I can spend the night, too? I’m pretty sure Melody’s going to do another 24-hour.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good reason. I’ll come with you to get your stuff. My house is pretty far.”

“Fine by me. Let’s get intimate!”

“W-What the heck?!” I reacted with a moderate blush on my cheeks.

“O-Oh, s-sorry. I tend to say that when I get excited over something.” Ally explained, also with a moderate blush on her cheeks. “It doesn’t mean what you think it means, I swear.”

“O-Oh. O-Okay then. L-Let’s go then.”

“Y-Yeah. L-Let’s go.”

 

After that uncomfortable moment, me and Ally went to Amitie’s house so Ally can grab some stuff to use overnight. While we were there, we tried waking Melody up. No success. So we left her a note saying Ally won’t be home tonight and left, giving Ally directions along the way in case she wanted to come over again. When we arrived at my house, Ally was amazed at how big it was.

“Wow, Lidelle! You live here? This place is **HUGE!** ” Ally said.

“Really? I never thought of it that way. Probably because I’ve lived here all my life.” I said.

We entered my house and went to the living room where Mother was reading a book.

“Mother, I’m back.” I said.

“Oh, hi there sweetie. I see you brought a friend.” Mother said.

“Yeah, this is my friend, Ally. She moved here not too long ago. If you don’t mind, she would like to spend the night.”

“Sure, I don’t mind. Make yourself at home, Ally.”

“Thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Lidelle’s Mom.” Ally said.

“Oh, you don’t have to call me that. Just call me Yumi.”

“Yumi?” We both said.

“Yep, that’s my name.”

“Mother, how come you’ve never told me your first name until now?”

“You’ve never asked, sweetie.”

“…”

_What’s with this sudden feeling of de-ja-vu?_

“Anyway, me and Ally are going to be in my room if you need me.” I said.

“Okay. Have fun, you two.” Mother said.

“Thanks again for letting me stay here, uh…Yumi.” Ally said.

“No problem, Ally.”

We went to the back of the house on the right side of the hall and I opened the sliding door to my room. We stepped inside and Ally took a look around.

“Wow, Lidelle. Even your room is big. So cool.”

“Huh? It’s not **that** big, is it?”

“It’s bigger than any bedroom I’ve ever seen.”

“Huh. Weird. Well, you can just put your stuff next to that drawer over there.”

“Alright.”

Ally dropped her bag next to the drawer and looked around some more while I dug in my closet looking for stuff for us to do.

“So what do you want to do first, Ally?”

“…”

“Ally?”

I turned around to see Ally opening one of the drawers really slowly.

“ _Oooo, I wonder what’s in here…”_ She asked in a teasing voice.

“Stop right there, pervert!” I yelled.

“Oh? To get **_that_** reaction…is this your underwear drawer, Lidelle?”

“ **L-LIKE I’M TELLING YOU WHAT’S IN THERE!!!** ”

“Yep. Definitely your underwear drawer.”

“J-Just close the dang thing!”

“Alright, alright.” Ally said as she closed the drawer.

“Geez, how does Amitie put up with you?”

“Like she said, she got used to it.”

“ _sigh_. Anyway what do you want to do?”

“Uh…how about we play a game?”

“A game? Okay then, how about we play…”

“ **NOT THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD!** ” Ally yelled.

“Fine. Then how about Mario Kart?”

“Which one?”

“64.”

“Eh, I prefer Wii, but 64’s okay. Just as long as it’s not Super Mario Kart.”

“I know right? The tracks in that game are brutal.”

“Right? I mean, I know it’s the first game in the series and all, but they still could’ve ease up on those corners. Especially with that crappy drift.”

“My cousin and her friend don’t find anything wrong with it, which is absurd. Then again, they are the type of people who think Double Dash is the best in the series.”

“ _ugh_. Double Dash again.”

“Tell me about it. I mean I’ve played the game. I think it’s good…”

“ **BUT IT’S OVERRATED AS HELL!!!** ” We both shouted the last part. We looked at each other for a bit and started laughing.

“You want to start playing now?” I asked.

“Sure! Let’s get intimate!” Ally yelled.

That last part made me crack up again, this time I was on the floor kicking my legs up.

“H-Hey! Stop laughing!”

“I-I’m sorry, it’s just too funny!”

Ally was pouting at first, but after seeing me still laughing, she stated laughing again, and after a while we began playing the game.

 

A couple hours later, we ate dinner that Mother had cooked (which was way less than what I would normally cook) and after that we took our baths. We were both in my room talking about other things we had in common, when we heard a scratching sound coming from the door.

“ ***chuckle*** Come in, Poochy!” I said.

“Poochy?” Ally asked.

“He’s my…dog?”

“Why did you sound unsure when you said that?”

“Well…”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ” Poochy phased though the door and charged towards me, knocking me to the floor and licking my face repeatedly.

“Okay, okay. I missed you too, boy. Just get off me.”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“Whoa! What **_is_** that?!” Ally asked, blown out of her mind.

“This is Poochy, my uh…thing. I honestly don’t know what he is, but he can shape shift.”

“So cool!”

“Poochy, say hi.”

Poochy starred at Ally for a bit then walked up to her. After sniffing her a bit, he changed himself into a cat and climbed on her, eventually laying down on her lap and started purring.

“Poochy?” I asked.

“ _Aw_. He’s so cute! Reminds me of my cat.” Ally said.

“Your cat?”

“Yeah. I had a cat back when I was younger living at my old home. Her name was Chupei and she was a grey cat that had so much energy. Sadly, she died due to an uncurable illness.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay. There was nothing that we could do for her, so we just let her enjoy her last moments on earth before she passed.”

“Oh, wow. So I guess Poochy read that about you and wanted to make you feel better.”

“He did?”

“Maybe. I’m not too sure.”

“Well, Thanks anyway, Poochy! I feel much better now.”

“ _meow._ ”

“He meowed! Lidelle your pet is so cool!”

“Poochy, just what are you?”

“ _meow._ ”

“Okay, girls. Time for bed.” Mother came in letting us know that it was getting late.

“Okay, Mother.” I said.

“Huh? Didn’t Poochy come in here?”

Poochy changed back into a dog and ran out my room towards the garden.

“ _ARF ARF! ARF ARF!_ ”

“Was he a cat just now?” Mother asked.

“Yeah. I guess he learned a new shape.” I asked.

“I see. Well, good night, you two.”

“Goodnight.” We both said.

Mother turned off the lights and closed the sliding door behind her. I was laying down on my bed and Ally was in her futon. We were both trying to go to sleep but…

“Hey, Lidelle? You up?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I just want to say that I had a great time today.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I never thought that we had so much in common. It’s great!”

“I know. It’s like your another me.”

“Or like your another me.”

“But I’m not a pervert.”

“Hey.”

I started laughing and then turned to Ally, facing her on her futon.

“But seriously, I really did have fun with you, Ally.” I said.

“Same here, Lidelle.” Ally replied.

We both went silent for a bit, doing nothing else but starring at each other.

“H-Hey…Ally? Can I show you a secret?” I asked.

“ _Show me_?” Ally sounded confused.

“You’ll understand once you see it.”

“Oh. Okay then.”

I got off my bed and got onto Ally’s futon. I sat across from her as she got up and sat across from me.

“Ready?” I asked.

Ally shook her head _yes_.

With that confirmation, I started undoing my hair buns one by one until they were both undone, revealing the top of my head. Ally’s eyes lit up when she saw what was there.

“L-Lidelle! Y-You have horns?!”

“Yeah. I got them from my father, who died long ago. I’ve been really sensitive about them, keeping it a secret from everyone except a few people. This is the first time I’ve willingly shown them to someone.”

“I see but…why me?”

“Because…I trust you.”

“L-Lidelle.”

“So, can you keep this a secret from the others?”

“S-Sure. I-I can do that.”

“Thank you, Ally.”

We both starred at each other with bright-red blushes on our faces. I felt my heart racing as I continued to stare at her. This new and weird feeling felt good. I didn’t want it to end.

“H-Hey, Lidelle. Do you think…you could…s-stay down here…w-with me? I-I mean, you don’t have to! I’m not trying to force you or anything…” Ally said in a nervous voice.

I was taken back by this request. Was it possible that Ally was having the same weird feeling I was? There’s no way I could ask her that. For now, I might as well continue to keep this feeling of mine.

“S-Sure. I-I don’t mind. Not at all.” I said.

I could’ve sworn Ally’s face grew excited for a second, but maybe I’m just getting tired from this new feeling. We both laid down on Ally’s futon and continued to face each other, both our cheeks as red as two cherries side by side together. My heart was going faster than before. I felt like this new feeling was going to be the death of me. But it felt so good.

“G-Goodnight!” We both said as we turned our heads away from each other.

A little while after we fell asleep, I felt a nudge coming from behind me. I turned around to see Ally snuggling up against me. It took me by surprise, but…I didn’t do anything to get her off. Instead, I got closer to her to the point that I was snuggling up against her. Her skin was so warm and soft. It eased me of the built-up stress from the weird feeling, as I fell back asleep in the most relaxed state I’ve ever been in.

 

For some reason, I don’t know why, but this felt so right.


	6. Blue-ish Fever

**Arle’s POV**

 

_Still takes place on the same day Amitie and Raffina go to the amusement park._

“Woah…this place is **SO COOL!** ”

“Right? And it was just an ordinary cave when I found it.”

“I still can’t believe you did all this in 3 days.”

 ***confident chuckle*** “Never doubt the power of dark magic.”

What we were looking at was a cave that Schezo found when he got wrapped here by the Dimensional Mirror. After he left Raffina’s house (due to reasons he refuses to talk about), he came back here and lived in this cave. Eventually, he started not liking how cramped it was, so he used his magic to make it bigger, and soon after that, it started to look more livable. Right now, he was showing me around the place.

“For some reason, that area right there is always freezing. So I put refrigerated stuff in there.” He said.

“ _Oh…_ ” I said in amazement.

“I found this waterfall on the second day. Not sure where the water’s coming from, but it’s drinkable.”

“ _Woah…_ ”

“And these crystals…I’m not sure what they are. They’re extremely bright though, so I use them as lights.”

“ _Wow…_ ”

“And I sense that there’s even more to this cave. Once my magic has replenished, I’ll _bareback_ this cave once more!”

“Bareback?”

“…”

“ **GAH!** Why do I keep doing that?!”

“It’s okay, Schezo. I find it kind of funny seeing you realizing what perverted stuff you just said.” I said in a teasing tone.

“Sh-Shut up, Arle!”

After reliving another one of Schezo’s outbursts, he brought out some ice cream he got from Lemres and we ate some while sitting on one of the rocks in the cave. While eating it, I started having some deep thoughts.

“Hey, Schezo.”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think the others are doing right now?”

“Huh? Didn’t you tell me that Amitie and Raffina went to someplace called an amusement park?”

“Not those two. I mean **our** friends, from **our** world.”

“Oh that. Not really sure. But knowing them, it’s probably something absurd.”

“Yeah, true. We did do some pretty weird stuff back there. But they were fun too, right?”

“Well, most of them. There were _those_ things that happened.”

“Yeah. That pointless Puyo tournament…”

“The sun getting bigger…”

“The battle with that clone of me that wanted me dead…”

“All caused by…”

We stop talking for a bit while remembering the madness we had to endure due to one person.

“ _sigh_. Satan.” We both said in annoyance.

“Well, I can honestly tell you I don’t miss him at all.” Schezo said.

“Yeah, me neither.” I replied. “Guy was a total pain. Kept telling everyone that I was his fiancé and that we’re destined to have a romantic honeymoon underneath the starry night sky. I keep turning the creep down, but it won’t go through that thick head of his. Not to mention he keeps calling me Aruru.”

“Aruru? What does that mean?”

“I looked it up on Amitie’s phone-thing. Apparently it’s my name in Japanese.”

“How the hell does he know Japanese?”

“Beats me. I guess he’s smarter than he looks.”

“They do say looks can be deceiving.”

“Yeah, but with Satan **EVERYTHING’S** deceiving about him.”

“Right?”

We both laughed at the insulting joke then calmed down after a few minutes. The ice cream had melted by the time we completely stopped laughing.

“Do you think we’ll see our friends again, Schezo?” I asked.

“Well, that Akuma guy did say that six lighting bolts came out the mirror before it exploded. If I was one of them…”

“Then it could be possible the others are here too. Although we can’t be too sure, huh?”

“Unfortunately, that is the case.”

“ _sigh_.”

“You okay, Arle?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just gonna go back to Amitie’s now. Thanks for showing me around this cool cave, Schezo.”

“No problem. And don’t hesitate _coming_ for me again. I _really enjoy_ it.”

“ _Really? You enjoy me coming for you?_ ” I asked in a teasing tone.

“…”

“Sh-Shut up! You know that’s not what I mean!”

“Yeah, I know… _pervert_.”

“You’re really pushing it, right now.”

I cracked up laughing as I left Schezo’s cave, leaving him somewhat annoyed at my teasing.

 

I reached the forest exit and wound up at the park next to it. Thanks to Yu and Rei giving me directions on how to navigate through what they call Nahe Forest, I wasn’t able to get lost. I looked at my surrounds as the wind blew through my let down hair.

“You know…now that I think about it, this place is kind of peaceful. Scratch that, it’s **VERY** peaceful. Compared to home, this place is like heaven!”

I stopped talking and thought about what I just said.

“N-Not that I’m saying my world is total hell or anything.”

I sat on a nearby bench and continued to enjoy the scenery. Having no one here made it even more peaceful. It felt relaxing not having to do something completely ridiculous for once in my life.

_But still…I wouldn’t mind seeing my friends again._

As I sat on the bench lost in my own thoughts, a butterfly flew up to me and landed on my nose. It broke my train of thought as I looked at it with curiosity.

“Oh. Hello there, little guy. What are you doing on my nose?” I asked the butterfly.

“It’s a girl.”

“H-Huh?!” I could’ve sworn I just heard this butterfly talk.

“That butterfly…it’s a girl.”

I was starting to believe that not only this butterfly can talk, but it likes to talk in third-person. I was starting to get a little creeped out, but at the same time I wanted to hear it talk some more.

“H-Hey…little butterfly. Can you talk some more?”

The butterfly didn’t do (or in this case, _say_ ) anything and instead flew off my nose into the sky.

“H-Hey! W-Wait! Where you going?! Don’t leave! I wanted to hear you talk some more!” I shouted. When it out of my sight, I slumped back on the bench in disappointment.

“You know butterflies can’t talk, right?”

“Huh?” I couldn’t believe I was still hearing the same voice, even with the butterfly miles away from me at this point.

“Behind you.”

I turned around to see a boy standing behind me. He had light-blue hair and was wearing a blue and white jacket with dark-blue jeans. But the most noticeable things I noticed about him were that he had two different colored eyes, one blue one red, and he also had a strange red hand. It almost looked like a claw. Wonder how that happened.

“H-How long have you standing behind me?” I asked the boy.

“I dunno.” Was all he said.

“…”

“W-Well anyway, was that you talking and not the butterfly?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I feel stupid now.”

“Don’t worry. It was kind of funny seeing you talk to a butterfly.”

“Geez, here you are making fun of me yet I don’t even know your name.” I said in a pouty tone with my arms crossed.

“Sig.”

“Huh?”

“That’s my name. Sig.”

“Sounds a little too simple if you ask me.”

“Really? What’s yours then?” Sig asked. He sounded insulted, but I couldn’t tell because he had this unamused, carefree look on his face.

“Arle Nadja. But you can just call me Arle.” I said.

“Huh. Sounds cute.”

“C-Cute?!” I blushed real hard at that compliment. I never thought anyone would say that my name was cute, let alone a boy.

“Sorry. Did I offend?”

“N-No. I-I just wasn’t expecting that, is all.”

“Oh.” He said, still sounding unamused.

“So, what were you doing out here? Was it something to do with that butterfly?” I asked.

“Yeah. I was try to catch her.”

“Her?”

“It’s a girl.”

“How do you know?”

“I can tell.”

“Just like that?”

“Yep.”

“You’re a weird boy, you know that?”

“This is coming from the girl who thought butterflies could talk.”

“Very funny.” I said sounding insulted.

Sig grew a small, yet noticeable smile on his face. It made me gain a smile on my face, too. I’ve only met this guy just a few minutes ago, but he seems really fun to be around.

“Hey, I was going to look for more bugs. You want wanna come with?” Sig asked.

“Sure. I’m free at the moment.” I said.

Sig took me to a spot in the park he said is known for having a lot of bugs. Each one he would catch he would tell me a little fact about them.

“This here is a Rhino Beetle. Due to it being able to carry 850 times it’s own weight, it’s known as the strongest creature in the world.”

“Woah! The world?! That’s amazing!”

“And here’s a Devil’s Flower Mantis. They’re really good at mimicking flowers. They hide out on them until prey come by, then they just eat them.”

“Wow. I should make sure I don’t accidently pick up one of those.”

Just then, I saw a bug crawl up to me. It was grey and had a really long mouth. I thought it was cool looking, so I tried to pick it up with my finger, when…

“ **W-WAIT, ARLE! DON’T TOUCH THAT BUG!** ” Sig yelled as he grabbed my hand with his red claw.

“H-Huh? W-Why not?” I asked in a panicked state.

“That one right there is an Assassin Bug. It stabs it’s prey with it’s straw-like mouth to inject a toxin that turns the prey’s intestines into liquid. Then the bug would suck the toxin back up, along with the liquified intestines.”

“Holy crap! That sounds like a horrible way to die!”

“There are bugs that do worse, but luckily I haven’t found those ones yet.”

“Well…thank you, Sig. In a way, you kind of saved my life.”

“Huh. I guess I did.”

The two of us just sat there in the bug-infested patch of grass starring at each other’s eyes. I felt my heart racing and my cheeks getting hotter as I didn’t move from that spot. I saw that Sig’s face, although still looking like he’s bored out of his mind, was just as red as mine. When we came to realize what we were doing, we quickly turned our heads away from each other in pure shyness.

_This is getting way too awkward. I have to break the ice somehow._

“H-Hey…S-Sig.” I stuttered. “D-Do you want to…uh…w-walk around a bit?”

Sig didn’t say anything, but he did gesture his head to mean _yes_.

We both got up from the patch of grass (with Sig waving goodbye to the bugs) and walked around town, eventually regaining the ability to talk to each other.

“So, Sig, how long have you been in this town?” I asked him.

“Not long. I just moved here.” He said.

“Really? When?”

“Yesterday.”

“So you just moved here yesterday, and you’re already rummaging through bushes catching bugs? Again, you’re a weird boy.”

“You seem like an expert on moving to a new place.”

“Well, actually…I really don’t.”

“Huh?”

I started to tell Sig that I’ve only been here for a week. How that I was wrapped here from a different world and came out of a magic mirror of some sorts. I also mentioned Schezo, and how he got wrapped here too. All Sig said when I finished explaining was…

“I don’t get it.”

“Really? What’s not to get? I thought I explained it very well.” I said.

“Well yeah, you did. I just don’t get how all that happened.”

“Yeah, neither do I. Something to do with space-time, I guess.”

“What’s space-time?”

“I dunno.” I said, trying to imitate Sig.

“Oh.” Was all he said.

I took a quick peak at his eyes and more importantly his hand. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t curious about it.

“Hey, Sig. Why do you have different colored hands and eyes?” I asked.

Sig looked at his hand for a bit then looked back at me.

“I dunno.” He said.

“Is that your favorite thing to say or something?” I asked.

“I really don’t know. I was basically born like this.”

“Really?!”

“Pretty much. People back at my old town believed that I was cosplaying, and thus start talking rumors about me.”

“What’s cosplaying?”

“Beats me.”

“Hey, you didn’t say _I dunno_ this time.”

“Huh. I guess I did.”

We both started laughing for a while. By the time we completely stopped, the sun was already starting to set. I guess we were walking so long and enjoy each other’s company so much, that we lost track of time.

“Woah, look at that. The sun’s setting.” I said.

“Yeah. It is.” Sig replied.

“I should probably get home now. I’m staying with a friend of mine.”

“I see. I need to get home, too.”

“You know, Sig. I really had fun spending time with you today. We should do this more often.”

“Yeah. I agree.”

We caught ourselves starring at each other again and turned our heads in the other direction. My heart and cheeks were in the same condition as before.

_This awkward feeling again?! What’s with me today?!_

After we calmed down a bit, we faced each other again and smiled at each other with a small grin.

“So, can we meet up again tomorrow? At the park?” I asked.

“Sure.” Sig said. “I’ll look for a nice, non-deadly bug for you.”

“Yeah, I would like that a lot.”

We grabbed each other’s hand and formed a handshake. Then we let go and I turned around to start running back to Amitie’s house. Before I did, though, I turned my head back towards Sig and faced him again.

“It was nice to meet you, Sig.” I said.

“It was nice to meet you too, Arle.” He said back.

I smiled greatly as I began running back home, waving back at Sig as he waved back at me.

 

By the time I got home, the night sky had already formed. Normally, I would be battling it out with Satan via a Puyo match, trying to stop him from doing one of his ridiculous plans. And there not even “evil” plans that will cause “worldwide destruction” or anything…not that I wanted them to be. I opened the front door and went inside the rundown-looking house.

“I’m home.” I said.

“Oh hey. There you are, Arle. Where’ve you been?” Amitie asked. I was honestly surprised she was back already.

“I was with Schezo looking at this cave he found.” I said, then looked around the room to see it was just Amitie and Melody, who was still asleep. “Where’s Ally?”

“She left a note. Apparently, she’s spending the night at Lidelle’s house.”

“Really? Wow, I guess she finally found something to do.”

“At Lidelle’s expense, though.”

I didn’t really know what she meant by that, so I didn’t reply to that statement. Amitie then turned to Melody and repeatedly hit her on the head with a stuffed animal she had with her.

“H-Huh? Wh-What? What happened?” Melody shot up like a rocket when she felt the impact of the plushie, dazed and confused of what was happening.

“Mom, you slept all day again.” Amitie said.

“Huh? I did? Oh wow. I guess work really has me drained.”

“Work? You mean you’re still working on your light-novel? I thought you finished it.”

“I did, but as me and Akuma were about to make copies of it, a random strain of wind came by and blew some of the pages into a nearby fireplace, burning them to a crisp. I’ve been rewriting those pages since.”

“Oh, wow. That sounds horrible.” I said.

“It’s not all that bad. There were some cheesy parts I didn’t like.”

“When did this all happened?” Amitie asked.

“Uh…3 days ago.”

“So, you’ve been sitting here rewriting pages of your book for 3 days?!”

“Yeah…pretty much.”

“Mom…when was the last time you ate something?” Amitie noticed that Melody was looking weaker than she should be. I noticed it too, but Amitie beat me to it.

“Uh…3 days ago.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Mom…you’re taking the day off tomorrow.” Amitie said.

“B-But…”

“ **NO BUTS! YOU SHOULDN’T BE OVERWORKING YOURSELF LIKE THIS TO THE POINT YOU’RE SKIPPING MEALS! I ALREADY LOST MY FATHER, I DON’T WANT TO LOSE MY MOTHER, TOO!** ” Amitie’s yelling scared me a bit. I didn’t think she would be the type of person to demandingly yell at her mom, or anyone for that matter.

Melody didn’t respond to the outburst, but I saw tears roaming down her face. It must of hit her in the face real hard. She grabbed Amitie and held her in a tight hug, while Amitie was doing the same.

“Thank you, Ami. Thank you so much.” Was all she said.

“Your welcome…Mommy.” Was all Amitie replied.

I tried not to cry during this emotional moment, but ended up failing, and was silently crying to myself.

 

It was getting late, so me and Amitie ended up taking a bath together. After we washed our hair and stuff, we were sitting in a tub filled with hot water feeling more relaxed than before.

“ _Ahhh…_ ” We both said.

“This feels nice, doesn’t it Arle?”

“Yeah, it really does.”

We sat there in silence for a little longer before bringing up another conversation.

“Hey, Amitie. What did you mean by you losing your father?” I asked.

“O-Oh that…” Amitie started to tense up a lot. Her body was shaking with what looked like fear and sadness. I felt like I made a huge mistake.

“W-Wait, you don’t have to answer that! I regret asking in the first place! Please feel better!” I tried calming her down.

“R-Really? Don’t you want to know?” She asked.

“If it’s going to make you upset, then no I don’t.”

“Th-Thanks, Arle. You’re a good friend.”

Seeing Amitie smile made me smile a bit. For some reason, it remined me of how Sig smiled today, and how he said that my name was cute. The thought of it made me blush a little.

_Why am I thinking of Sig at a time like this? In a tub naked with another girl whose also naked…that’s so not normal!_

“Hey, Arle, you okay? You’re blushing a little.” Amitie said.

I snapped back into reality after hearing Amitie’s voice.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. I was just thinking.”

“Of what?”

“What I did today. I was with Schezo today and on my way home, I…well…met someone today.”

“Met someone? You mean like a boy?”

I nodded my head _yes_.

“Wow, Arle. Look at you. Only been here for a week and you already found a boy to like.”

“H-Hey, it’s not like I’m in love with him or anything! I only met the guy a few hours ago!”

“You don’t know…it could happen.”

“It could?”

“It did for me and Raffina.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“So what’s he like? Is he cute? How tall is he? What’s his personality? How old is he?”

“Amitie, I would love to answer all of your questions about him, but I think you forgot that we’re sitting in a bathtub together completely naked.”

Amitie realized where we were at this moment in time and stated blushing out of embarrassment.

“O-Oh yeah, s-sorry. I get really excited when taking about romance stuff.” She said.

“It’s okay, as long as you noticed. You want to get out now? I’m getting kind of hungry.”

“Oh yeah, right. We have to get some food for my mom, too. Let’s go!”

We got out the tub and dried ourselves off. After we got dressed, we exited the bathroom and found something to eat for dinner, with Melody being the most grateful for it.

When we fell asleep, I kept having dreams of me and Sig doing what we were doing earlier. It kept waking me up a times with a blushed face and my heart racing.

 _Aw geez, another sleepless night, huh? Well, at least it’s a good reason this time._     


	7. Summer Festival: Sweet Melodies

**Raffina’s POV**

 

“Seriously?! That’s why she’s been sleeping so much?!”

“Yeah. It’s really taken a toll on her. She’s even skipped meals just so she could keep up.”

“Gee…poor Melody.”

Me and Amitie were sitting on a bench in the park, talking about the incident Melody went through and how she pretty much starved herself to fix it. Amitie managed to convince her to take a few days off and they both showed up at my house, with Melody staying with Amira and Lily, and us two going to the park to meet up with everyone else.

“So Ally went to sleepover at Lidelle’s house?” I asked.

“Yeah, I was shocked too. Didn’t really think those two would hang out on their own.” Amitie said.

“I wonder how it went.”

“Beats me. I tried calling her this morning but she wouldn’t answer, and she’s normally up extremely early.”

“Strange. Well, here they come now. So we could probably ask them in person.”

“Oh, yeah. There they are.”

We saw Lidelle and Ally walking towards us in kind of a weird way. They both had blushed cheeks, really small smiles, and were walking a little close to each other. I can’t be too sure, but something did happen between the two of them.

“Morning, girls.” Lidelle said.

“Yo Ami! Raffina! What’s up?” Ally shouted.

“We should be asking you two that.” I said.

“Huh?” Both girls reacted at the same time.

“Don’t play dumb. You two coming here blushing and smiling while walking close to each other…something happened didn’t it?”

“Wh-What?! O-Of course not! Nothing happened! Right, Ally?”

“Y-Yeah! Wh-What Lidelle said! Nothing happened whatsoever!”

“Yeah, okay. Say what you want.”

“B-But it’s true!” They both yelled.

“Where are you going with this, Raffina?” Amitie asked.

“I’ll tell you later, Ami.”

“Wait, did you just call her _Ami_?” Ally asked.

“Yeah. I told her she can call me by my nickname.” Amitie said.

“ _Aw_ , that’s sweet. Did you give Raffina one?” Lidelle asked.

“Yep! It’s…”

“Ami!”

“Huh? Don’t tell me you’re still embarrassed about it?”

“Well…” The truth was that I was still embarrassed about it. I know Amitie put all her heart into thinking of it, but it still sounds so cheesy.

“Aw, come on, Raffina! I wanna know what it is!” Ally whined.

“And if it’s cheesy, it’ll be good payback for earlier.” Lidelle added.

“Damn it!”

“Just say it already.” Amitie said to me.

“Alright, fine!” I yelled. I took a few deep breaths and prepared to get it over with.

“My nickname…is Raffi, okay?”

“Raffi?” Lidelle and Ally started grinning hard as they were trying to hold in their laugher. They clearly failed, as they fell to the ground laughing their butts off.

“H-Hey! Sh-Shut up! It’s not that funny!” I yelled.

Lidelle and Ally eventually stopped laughing and stood up on their own two feet again, wiping away any tears of laugher that was still on their faces.

“We’re sorry.” They both said.

“ _sigh_. It’s fine. Just know that Ami’s the **ONLY** person who can call me that.”

“Call you what?” Said a new voice.

We turned around to see Klug heading towards us. It’s been awhile since we last saw him, so we decided to invite him to…whatever it is we decide to do.

“Hey, Klug! Guess what? Ami and Raffi gave each other nicknames!” Ally shouted.

“Raffi?”

“ **ALLY!** ” Both me and Amitie yelled.

“Oops. Guess I already forgot…”

“What kind of nickname is Raffi?” Klug asked.

“Please don’t start, Klug. I’ve already had enough embarrassment for one day.”

“Alright, alright.”

“Hey, guy! Sorry we’re late!”

We heard another new voice and turned to see Arle along with Schezo heading our way. Arle had left Amitie’s house early to get Schezo because she’s the only person who knows where his cave is.

“Hey, Arle! Schezo! Guess what?”

“Ally, I swear to God…” I said.

“Oops. Sorry again, Raffina.”

“ _sigh_. Anyway, guys I want to meet a friend and classmate of ours. This is Klug. Klug, these were the two people I was talking about. The ones that came out the mirror.”

“Ah, so you’re Arle and Schezo, huh? I’ve heard a lot about that Dimensional Mirror thing, but I didn’t think it would be here in Primp of all places.” Klug said.

“You’ve heard of it?” Arle asked.

“Yes, but I don’t know much about it. And I won’t be able to learn more since It was destroyed.”

“Oh. Sorry about that.”

“No need to apologize. Who knows what that thing would’ve brought if it was still around.”

“Yeah, true.”

Throughout the entire conversation with Klug and Arle, I noticed that Schezo didn’t say anything, and that he was starring at Klug’s book that he always carries with him. Knowing him, he’s probably about to say something that sounds real provocative.

“Hey Klug, was it?”

“Yeah.”

“Where did you get that book?”

“Huh? This? I bought it from the library.”

“ _Hmm…_ ”

“Wh-What?”

“That book…I sense a great power coming from it.”

“Well, it has been making weird noises just recently. Not sure why, though. Kind of want it to stop.”

“I see…then with my dark magic, I shall help you _scan_ that book _cover_ _to cover_! And _under the covers_ , as well!”

“Uh…what?”

_And there he goes…_

“ _Gee, Schezo. I didn’t know you swung that way…_ ” Arle said to him in a teasing way.

“Huh?”

It took Schezo awhile to realize what he just said, but when he did…

“ **GAH! DAMN IT! WHY DO I KEEP DOING THAT?!** ”

Arle started laughing while he kept telling her to shut up. Meanwhile, Klug was left with a confused look on his face.

“Uh…what just happened?” He asked.

“Schezo has this speech problem that makes him say things that sound perverted but they’re really not. He’s trying to stop it, but as you can see, he not having that much luck.” Amitie explained.

“I see…I guess?”

Around this point, Arle and Schezo were done going at it with each other and were catching their breaths from Arle laughing and Schezo yelling. We then took noticed of Arle’s new outfit.

“Hey, Arle. What’s with the fighter outfit?” Ally asked.

Arle was wearing a light-blue and white mini-dress with a small blue and white jacket over the top and a black belt over the bottom. She wore red and white fighter wristbands on her arms and black fighter gloves on her hands with white ribbons attached to them. Her blue boots were also different, looking like futuristic sneakers. She also had her hair back into a pony tail.

“You like? I ran into this skeleton guy on the way to Schezo’s and saw this hanging up at his store. It looked so awesome that I bought the entire set and went back home to change.”

“Skeleton guy?” Lidelle said. “No doubt that was Oshare Bones. I’m surprised that he had a cool outfit for once.”

“Yeah, I’m actually jealous that Arle got it first. It would’ve been perfect for me.” I added.

“Really? Ha! Maybe I can start training to be a fighter!”

“I doubt it.” Schezo said.

“Hey!”

After that, our group of 7 decided to just walk around having random conversations until we found something to do. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long for that to happen, as something came up to us in a panicked state. Or should I say _someone_?

“Ribbit! Ribbit Ribbit!”

“What…is **THAT**?” Amitie asked.

“Is that a frog?” Ally asked.

“No, it’s an acorn…right?” Arle asked.

“Whatever it is, it’s kind of cute.” Schezo said.

“Ribbit! Rib-ribbit!”

“Oh hey, Dongurigaeru! How’s it been?” Lidelle asked him.

“Don-what?” The previous four looked more confused than I was when I was watching Amitie and Ally play that weird game last week.

“Dongurigaeru. He’s a creature that lives near the pond here. He’s neither a frog or an acorn.” I explained before looking over to where Lidelle was. “Also…”

“Ribbit! Ribbit! Ribbit! Ribbit!”

“Wow. That’s some morning. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Ribbit!”

“Lidelle’s the only person in town who can understand what he’s saying.” Klug finished my sentence.

“How?!” The confused four asked.

“We have no idea.” Me and Klug answered.

“Ribbit! Ribbit!”

“So, uh…what’s he saying, Lidelle?” Amitie asked.

“He said that he left the pond in order to find some food and when he came back, there was a girl sleeping on the tree there.” Lidelle translated.

“Huh? A girl? What did she look like?”

“Rib-Rib-Ribbit.”

“He said she had pink hair and was wearing a white dress. Also he couldn’t tell, but it looked like she had wings.”

“Wait, a pink haired girl wearing a white dress and maybe having wings? Schezo, doesn’t that sound like…” Arle asked him.

“It has to be, right? I mean the descriptions sound really similar.” He said.

“So, you guys know who this girl is?” I asked.

“Maybe…but we’re not too sure. Maybe if we saw her ourselves, we’ll know for sure.”

“Ribbit. Ribbit. Rib-rib-ribbit.”

“Dongurigaeru said he’ll take you there. Anything to get the girl off his tree.”

“Really? Uh, thanks uh…little guy.”

“Ribbit-Ribbit!”

 

Dongurigaeru took us to his pond in the middle of the park where we saw the girl sleeping on the lone tree branch. Arle and Schezo took one good look at her then smiled at each other.

“Yep, no doubt that’s her.” Schezo said.

“Yep. Don’t worry, little guy. We’ll get her off your tree.” Arle said to Dongurigaeru.

“Ribbit!”

Arle began inhaling a deep breath and placed her hands next to her mouth.

“ **HEY! HARPY!** ” She yelled.

The girl woke up from her nap and looked over to where I guess her name was called. Her eyes lit up when she saw who called her out.

“H-Huh?! Arle?! Schezo?!” She yelled as she spread her wings and flew off the tree towards them, breaking the branch in the process. “It is you, right? I didn’t drink another one of Witch’s potions, did I?”

“Yes, Harpy. It really is us.” Schezo said.

“ **YAY!** ”

The girl grabbed both Arle and Schezo and began fly up towards the sky with them in hand. The rest of us down here were amazed (and somewhat confused) at what we were seeing.

“ **YOU DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH I’VE MISSED YOU GUYS!!! I’M SO HAPPY!!!** ” She said.

“Yeah, we’ve missed you too, Harpy… **BUT CAN YOU PLEASE PUT US DOWN?!** ” Arle shouted.

“Huh? Oh, sorry.” The trio eventually came back down and the girl let both Arle and Schezo go.

“So you two do know this girl?” Klug asked.

“Huh? Oh right, we do.” Arle said before clearing her throat. “Everyone, this is our friend, Harpy. She’s also from our world.”

“Howdy-do! Name’s Harpy! Nice to meet ya!” Harpy said cheerfully.

“Whoa. So are you like, an **ACTUAL** angel?” Ally asked.

“Yep! The real deal!”

“So…Awesome!”

“Ribbit. Ribbit.”

“Huh? What was that, Dongurigaeru?” Lidelle asked him.

“Ribbit. Ribbit. Ribbit.”

“What’s he saying, Lidelle?” I asked.

“He said he’s mad at the angel for breaking his tree branch, and wants it to leave.”

“Oops. Sorry, little green thing.” Harpy said, rubbing the back of her head.

“Ribbit.”

“G-Geez, Dongurigaeru! It’s not that big of a deal for you to say something like _that_!”

“What did he say?” Amitie asked.

“Uh…I don’t feel comfortable repeating it.” Lidelle said with a mild blush on her face.

The rest of us looked at her with nothing but confused looks.

 

With nothing else to do, we decided to head for the plaza. While walking, we got know Harpy a little bit. Despite being an angel, she’s only 14. She’s kind of an airhead, finding the most common things interesting and futuristic. And mainly…

“Wow really, Harpy? You like to sing?” Lidelle asked.

“Sure do! I sing whenever I get the chance to!” Harpy replied.

“Sounds like you have fun doing it, too.” Amitie said.

“Yeah! Can we hear you sing? Please?” Ally asked.

“ **NO!** ” Arle and Schezo yelled.

“Huh?! Why not?!”

“Harpy has a terrible singing voice. It’ll make your ears bleed.” Arle said.

“Wow, Arle…that’s pretty mean to say. I though she was your friend.” Amitie said with a disappointed look on her face.

“She is, but…”

“Yeah! And besides, I’ve gotten better!” Harpy defended herself.

“Harpy, you’ve been saying that for years, and yet you never do.” Schezo counterclaimed.

“ **Hmph**. Fine! Then I’ll prove it right now!”

“ **HARPY, NO!!!** ” Both Arle and Schezo yelled again.

But it was too late. Harpy had flown to the top of the nearest building and stood on the roof. She cleared her throat and began singing.

“ _Audi famam illius._  
Solus in hostes ruit  
et patriam servavit.

 _Audi famam illius._  
Cucurrit quaeque  
tetigit destruens.

_Audi famam illius.  
Audi famam illius._

_Spes omnibus, mihi quoque.  
Terror omnibus, mihi quoque._

_Ille  
iuxta me._

_Ille iuxta me._  
Socii sunt mihi,  
qui olim viri fortes  
rivalesque erant.

 _Saeve certando pugnandoque  
splendor crescit._ ”

The entire time Harpy was singing, I felt tears running down my eyes. I’ve never such beautiful singing before. I look over to the others to see that I wasn’t the only one. Amitie, Ally, Lidelle, and even Klug all had sheds of tears on their faces. The only two that weren’t crying were Arle and Schezo, who had looks of disbelief on their faces. When Harpy had finished singing, we all clapped for her as she tow a bow. She then flew off the roof of the building and stood (or _floated_ ) with us on the ground.

“ _sniff_. Wow, Harpy… **THAT WAS AMAZING!!!** ” Ally shouted, still emotional.

“You’re a natural! A goddess even!” Klug added.

“I’ve never head such beautiful singing in my life!” Amitie claimed.

“I agree! It was mesmerizing!” Lidelle said.

“It was so good, I think my heart skipped a few beats!” I said.

“ _Aw_ , thanks guys! That really means al lot!” Harpy said while rubbing the back of her head, a little embarrassed of all the praise she was getting.

“Wow, Harpy. I’ve got to admit, you really did get better.” Arle said.

“See, I told you!”

“Sorry we doubted you.” Schezo said.

“It’s okay! In a way, saying that I’m a bad singer is like saying, “Arle’s a tomboy” or “Schezo’s a pervert”!”

“ **I’M NOT A TOMBOY!!!** ”

“ **I’M NOT A PERVERT!!!** ”

“See? We’re relatable!”

“So this is where the singing was coming from.” Said a new voice. We looked over to see Lemres heading towards us.

“Lemres? You heard it too?” I asked.

“You kidding? The whole town heard! I just happened to be nearby.”

“You hear that, Harpy? The whole town heard your singing!” Ally cheered.

“Harpy? Is that who this is?”

“Hiya! Name’s Harpy! Nice to meet ya, tall green dude!”

“I-It’s Lemres…”

“Sorry, Lemres. Harpy’s kind of an airhead.” Arle explained.

“Like a balloon?” Harpy asked Ally, who was standing next to her.

“I think she means the candy.” Ally said.

“ _Oooo_ , Yummy!”

“See what I mean?” Arle asked Lemres.

“Yeah. I see it now.”

“See what?” Both Ally and Harpy asked.

“It’s like they’re twins…” Lidelle whispered to me and Amitie.

“Yeah, I know.” Amitie whispered back. “Not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

“I-It could be a good thing!”

“What do you mean by _that_ , Lidelle?” I whispered to her in a suspicious way.

“U-Uh, w-well…”

“Hey! Arle!”

We heard another new voice and looked over to see…actually, I didn’t know who this boy was. He had light-blue hair and was wearing a blue and white jacket and dark blue pants. What was weird about him was that he had a blue eye and a red eye, and also a red claw-looking hand.

“Oh. Hey, Sig!” Arle said as she waved to the boy.

“What was that singing just now?”

“Oh, that. That was my friend, Harpy.”

“Oh.” Was all the boy said.

“Why did you sound disappointed when I said that?”

“Well…” The boy started blushing a bit on his non-emotional face. “I kinda thought it was you.”

“R-Really?” Arle asked.

“Yeah. It sounded cute. Reminded me of yesterday, when I said that your name was cute.”

“O-Oh. D-Did it now?” Arle was now blushing at this point.

“Hey, nice outfit.” The boy suddenly changed the subject.

“You think? It looked cool when I saw it this morning.”

“Yeah. You look like a real fighter.”

“Haha. Thanks, Sig.”

“Uh, hello? Earth to Arle…” Schezo nudged her shoulder.

“Huh?” It looked like Arle forgot where she was at the moment, and when she did realize, she got rather embarrassed.

“S-Sorry, guys.” She said.

“Arle, is this the boy you were talking about last night?” Amitie asked.

“Yeah. This is…”

“Sig.” The boy interrupted her.

“What he said. I met him…”

“Yesterday.” Sig interrupted her again.

“Yeah, what he said. He moved here…”

“Two days ago.” Sig interrupted her for a third time.

“Are you going to let me finish?” Arle asked him.

“Finish what?”

“You really are a weird boy.”

“O…kay, then.” Amitie said.

 

After we got introductions out the way, Klug and Schezo went home, so it was just us girls and this Sig guy at Lemres’ sweets shop eating some ice cream. Well, most of us were. Harpy kept starring at hers like she’s never seen ice cream before.

“Whoa…what **_is_** this stuff?”

Okay, maybe I was right.

“What? You’ve never eaten ice cream before. Harpy?” Ally asked her.

“Ice…cream? What’s that?”

“It’s what this stuff is! Come on, open up! I’ll feed you some!”

“Okay!”

Harpy opened her mouth and Ally fed her some ice cream. Next to her, I saw Lidelle intensely starring at the two. Ally noticed too and took another scoop of ice cream as she turned to her.

“H-Here, Lidelle. H-Have some too.” She said to her with a mild blush.

“U-Uh…s-sure, Ally. Th-Thank you.” Lidelle stuttered with the same mild blush. She opened her mouth and Ally fed her the spoonful of ice cream. After that, they just looked away from each other.

_I swear, something happened between those two. But if I ask again, they’re just going to deny it. One day they’ll slip up, though._

“Hey thanks for the free ice cream, Lemres!” Amitie said in delight, not noticing what went on with Lidelle and Ally.

“No problem, Amitie. I needed to make room for the stuff I’m going to make for the summer festival, anyways.”

“The summer festival? Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.” I said.

“How did you forget? You live here.” Lidelle retorted.

“Well when I go, I’m usually with Amira and Lily. And those two didn’t **exactly** make them memorable.

“Wait, who’s Lily?”

“My maid. She’s the one taking care of us with my parents traveling a lot.”

“Oh, I see.”

“So you guys have a summer festival here too? Sweet! It’s been so long since I’ve been to one!” Ally said.

“Yeah, me too! I bet it’s going to be fun!” Amitie added.

“Hey, Arle. What are they talking about?” Harpy asked her.

“No idea, Harpy.” Arle said, being just as confused as Harpy.

“Oh, right. You guys don’t know. A summer festival is an event where we go out at night and play games, eat tons of food, and watch fireworks.” I explained.

“Wow, fireworks?! That sounds cool!” Arle said.

“Wait…fire…works? So they’re giving jobs to balls of fire?” Harpy asked.

_Just how much of an airhead is this girl?_

Ally busted out laughing at what Harpy thought fireworks were.

“No, silly! Fireworks are rockets that go up in the sky and go **BOOM!** ” She said.

“Go boom?”

“ **BOOM!** ”

“ **BOOM!** ”

“ **BOOM!** ” They said the last one together.

_What the hell is wrong with these two?_

“ _Oooo_ , this summer festival thing sounds fun! I really wanna go!” Harpy said.

“Sure, Harpy. We can all go.” Amitie said.

“Yay!”

“Hey, Sig. You want to go the festival with us?” Arle asked him.

“…”

“Sig?”

Sig had a dead blank stare on his face. None of us could tell what he was looking at, until Lemres came by and waved his hand in front of Sig’s eyes.

“Yep. He’s asleep.” Lemres said.

“ **WITH HIS EYES OPEN?!?** ” Me, Amitie, Lidelle, and Arle yelled in shock.

“Cool…” Ally and Harpy said in amazement.

“Arle…your friend is weird.” I said.

“Yeah. I know.” Was all Arle said before we went back to eating our ice cream.


	8. Summer Festival: Lewd Feelings

**Ally’s POV**

 

“ _Ah_. That felt nice.” I said as I came out the bathroom, feeling sweaty all over my body.

“Ally, please don’t tell me you just…”

“Yep! Just did a nice rub down!”

“That is so gross.”

“ _Aw_ , come on, Ami. It’s not that bad once you get used to it.”

“ **BUT I DON’T WANT TO GET USED TO IT!** ”

“It’ll make you into a woman. Right, Melody?”

“No it doesn’t.” Melody answered. What makes you into a woman is losing your vir…”

“ **MOM!** ”

“Sheesh, Ami. You can’t play this innocent girl thing forever.”

“ **IT’S NOT THAT IM INNOCENT, I JUST DON’T WANT TO HEAR THAT FROM MY MOTHER OF ALL PEOPLE!** ”

“ **Hmph.** Your lost.”

“Uh…what are you guys talking about?” Arle asked with a confused look on her face.

“Masturbation.” I said.

“ **ALLY!** ” Amitie yelled.

“Huh? What the heck is that?” Arle was more confused than earlier.

“It’s a technique that makes you feel really good!” I said elatedly.

“Really? How does that work?”

“Well, you start by…”

The next thing I knew, I was thrown out the house by Ami.

“ **SERIOUSLY! YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO KEEP YOUR DIRTY THOUGHTS TO YOURSELF!!!** ” She yelled with a heavy shade of red on her face before slamming the door in front of me.

Normally, I would be banging on the door right now, begging Ami to forgive me and let me back in. But today, I’m kinda glad she threw me out. I need to be alone with my thoughts. My _non-perverted_ thoughts.

I’ve been having these thoughts for the past two days now. Ironically, two days ago was my sleepover at Lidelle’s house. I remember having so much fun with her. Playing a ton of games, ate a lot of food (I didn’t even know Lidelle could eat that much), playing with Poochy, who at one point reminded me of my late pet cat, and…later that night. I can’t believe Lidelle trusted me so much to reveal her horns to me. And the fact that she **ACTUALLY** said the words…It made my heart skip a few beats. And when I asked her to stay on my futon with me, and accidently snuggled up against her, the fact that she didn’t try to push me off, and instead got closer to me… I’ve never felt more happy than that night. Not even when I saw Ami for the first time in months. Since that night, I couldn’t stop thinking about Lidelle, and have been doing…well… _that_ more often than I normally do. Thinking of her while doing it made it 10x better, but afterwards I would feel all depressed about it.

_What is **WRONG** with me?! Thinking of one of my best friends while pleasuring myself…I really am a pervert! But…but why do I feel so happy when I do it? Is it supposed to mean something? I’m so confused!_

I was so lost in my own perversely messed up mind that I didn’t noticed that I ended up in the middle of town. I continued to mindlessly walk through the plaza until I kept hearing someone call my name.

“Ally!”

“Ally!”

“Ally!”

“H-Huh?!” I was broken out of my trance to see Harpy floating in front of me.

“Harpy!”

“Ally!”

We yelled out each other’s name and hugged each other in excitement. Even though we’ve only met yesterday, Harpy has become one of my best friends; along the same rank as Amitie. She doesn’t make me as happy as being with Lidelle, but she’s a close second.

“Hey, you won’t believe what I found!” Harpy said.

“What?” I asked.

“A brand-new home!”

“Really?! Where?!”

“There’s this _really_ tall tree in the middle of this _really_ pretty patch of flowers! Come on, I’ll show ya!”

“Okay! Let’s go get intimate!”

“In-ti-mate? What does that mean?” Harpy asked with a puzzling look.

_Crap! I said it again! But I can’t tell Harpy what it means! Her mind is too pure for that!_

“Uh…It means…let’s go have lots of fun!”

“ _Oh_. Okay! Let’s go!”

_Well, technically I wasn’t that far off from what it really means. I’m just glad she believed it._

 

Harpy took me to this new home she found, which wasn’t exactly how she described it. This _really_ tall tree was wide at the bottom and skinny at the top. The top also had four slabs attached to this oddly-shaped gear in the middle of it.

“Well, what do you think? Pretty sweet tree, right?” Harpy asked, waiting eagerly for my response.

“Uh, Harpy…that’s not a tree. It’s a windmill.” I said.

“Wind-mill? What’s that?”

“It’s a building type thing that moves whenever the wind pushes on it.”

“Oh. That explains why I kept getting hit in the face with flower petals last night.”

“Wait, you **slept** here last night?”

“Yeah. The thing itself was pretty uncomfortable, too. It was hard as bricks!”

“Well, it **is** made of bricks.”

“Oh yeah.”

We both started laughing a bit too hard to the point we began to cough a bit.

“Hey, you wanna go pick some flowers with me? There’s like a ton of them here.” Harpy asked.

“Sure! Let’s go!” I said cheerfully.

The two of us frolicked though the huge flower patch, surrounded by tons and tons of different colored flowers. There were so many that I’ve never seen before, but this one particular flower caught my eye.

“Hey…this flower…for some reason, it looks very familiar. Where have I seen it before?” I asked myself. Harpy was further away rolling in the flowers so she didn’t hear me.

I then remembered where I saw this flower before. It was at Ami’s birthday party…where I first met everyone…including Lidelle. She gave Ami this flower as a present, calling it a Moon-Sun Flower.

“It looks really pretty…just like Lidelle.”

_Wait, did I just say that Lidelle was…pretty?! **GAH!** What’s going on with me?!_

I slapped myself a little, hoping it would clear my mind of these weird thoughts. But then I kept starring at the flower. It kept reminding me of Lidelle, how pretty they both are. My heart was racing really fast and pounding so hard. It almost felt like I was having a heart attack. I didn’t know what this feeling was, but I was starting to believe that it would be the death of me until…

“Hey, Ally? You okay?” I heard Harpy ask me. I snapped back into reality and turned to face her.

“Huh? Oh. Hey, Harpy. Well, to be honest…no, I’m not.” I said.

“Is it me? Did I do something to make you upset?”

“What? No. Your perfectly fine. It’s more so me that’s caused it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m just gonna go home. Thanks for the fun, Harpy. Even though it was short-lived.”

“Oh. Okay then. Bye, Ally.” Harpy said with a sad look, almost like she was about to cry. It actually hurt me seeing Harpy like that. I wanted to stay, but with how I’m feeling right now, I would just kill the mood. So I gave her a huge hug and walked through the flower patch trying to find a way out. I waved at Harpy telling her bye, hoping it would make her feel a little better, then I looked at my hands. While I was hugging Harpy, I plucked the moon-sun flower off the ground. For some reason, I didn’t want to leave without it.

 

It took a while for me to get out of that flower patch, almost a 30-minute trek. But I did eventually get out, and ended up in the middle of the park. I honestly didn’t want to go home. It was just an excuse to not make Harpy worry. I really wanted to be alone, as these weird feelings have put me in a confusing state. I don’t know what they mean or what am I supposed to do about them, it was hurting my head so much that I was about to cry. Maybe if I talk with someone…but who?

_Ami? She’s my best friend and I’d normally go to her for stuff like this, but I think she’s still mad about this morning._

_Raffina? No. She’s already suspicious about the way I’m acting. She’ll probably make it worse._

_Melody? She’ll probably fall asleep during the middle of it._

_Arle and Schezo are a definite no. I don’t know why, but I feel like talking to them would be a big mistake._

That’s all the people I’m with most of the time. I can’t think of anyone else that I could go to. I looked at the moon-sun flower in my hands as I began to cry to myself, just about to give up on this weird feeling. That is until…

“Oh my. I didn’t think I would find you here of all places, Ally.” I looked up from the flower and saw someone that didn’t think I would see around here.

“M-Ms. Accord? What are you doing here?” I asked my former teacher.

“Oh, I usually come here to just relax and look at the flowers and stuff. It clears my mind of all my problems.”

“You…have problems?! I thought you were perfect.”

“She may look perfect, but she actually has tons of problems.” Popoi said.

“P-Popoi!” Ms. Accord yelled at him in embarrassment.

“What? It’s true, _meow_.”

“Oh, wow. That’s actually good to know.” I said.

“What’s wrong, Ally? You seem upset.” Ms. Accord asked.

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing. I’m completely fine.”

_Damn it! Why did I say that?!_

“Ally…you don’t have to lie to me.”

“H-Huh? W-Wait, you can tell?”

“Of course. I can tell when any of my students are feeling down. Well, I should say _ex_ -students.”

“O-Oh, yeah. Right.”

“So, what’s wrong? Come on, you can tell me. I’ll try to help as much as I can.” Ms. Accord said as she sat next to me on the bench.

_Can I really tell her? I mean, I’m out of options at this point. And Ms. Accord’s willing to help. I might as well._

I took a deep breath and starred at the flower again. I felt like if I didn’t tell at least **someone** , that I was going to stuffer at some point down the road.

“Well, it started two days ago…”

I told Ms. Accord about how I went to spend the night at Lidelle’s house, and how we had so much fun. I also mentioned Poochy’s cat transformation and how Lidelle willingly showed me her horns. I brought up how weird I felt when I fed here a spoonful of ice cream yesterday, and even how me snuggling up against her felt so good. The only thing I left out was the whole touching myself thing. That’s something I wouldn’t tell anyone, let alone my ex-teacher.

After I was done, Ms. Accord sat on the bench with her finger on her chin with what looked like a thinking face on her.

“I see.” She said. “Sounds rather interesting to me don’t you think, Popoi?”

“Yep. And the answers really obvious, too.” Popoi said.

“R-Really?! It is?! Tell me! Tell me!” I shouted eagerly.

“Now, now, Ally. If we just told you what the answer is, you would feel bad for not figuring it out yourself, right?” Ms. Accord asked.

“…”

“…Y-Yeah. I-I guess that’s true.” I said.

“Anyway, you and Lidelle seemed to have gotten along really well.”

“Oh yes! And we have so much in common, too! We both like video games and manga and animals and ice cream and the color green and eating and…”

“Ally.”

“Huh? O-Oh, s-sorry.” I said rather embarrassed.

“It’s okay. You seem to like being around her.”

“Y-Yeah, I do.”

“I see. What’s that you got in your hand? Is that a moon-sun flower?”

“Yeah, it is. I remember Lidelle giving this to Ami for her birthday. I didn’t think of it much then, but when I think about it now, I get this sudden boost of…of…of…”

“Jealousy?” Popoi asked.

“Yeah, that! And I don’t know why, either!”

Popoi whispered something to Ms. Accord and she giggled a bit while smiling. I didn’t know what it was she found funny at this point, but was hoping it wasn’t about me. Being laughed at is the last thing I need right now.

“Hey, Ally. If you don’t mind, I would like to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?” Ms. Accord asked.

“Uh, okay.” I said, unsure of where this was going.

“Alright, question 1: Do you _like_ Lidelle?”

“Huh? What kind of question is that?”

“Just answer it, _meow_.” Popoi said.

“Okay…yes I like Lidelle.”

“Great. Question 2: On a scale of 1-10, how much would you say you _like_ Lidelle?”

“10! No doubt about it! I really really like her!”

Ms. Accord giggled at my response.

“Okay, final question: If you had the choice, would you rather be here with me or with Lidelle?”

I thought about for a second. While talking to Ms. Accord did make me feel a lot better, I still felt a little…empty inside.

“No offense, Ms. Accord. But I rather be with Lidelle right now.”

“ ***giggle*** I thought you’d say that.”

“Huh?”

“Well. It was nice seeing you again, Ally. Have fun in high school. Say hello to the others for me.” Ms. Accord said as she suddenly got up from the bench and began walking away.

“H-Hey! W-Wait! What were those questions for?!”

“Oh. I should probably tell you, huh? Well, remember what you answered and just listen to your heart.”

“Listen to my heart? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, you’ll know when you figure it out. Goodbye, Ally.”

And so with that said, Ms. Accord left me standing in the middle of the park.

 

With nothing else to do and with it getting late, I decided to just go home, hoping Ami has calmed down from this morning. While walking there, I gave some thought on what Ms. Accord said earlier.

_Listen to my heart? What did she mean by that? Could it possibly be that…_

I looked at the moon-sun flower that still in my hands. I felt my heart beating hard and fast as the flower kept reminding me of Lidelle. I remember her saying that she has a ton of these at her house. I’m actually sad that I never got to see them when I was over there.

“I bet they’re just as pretty as Lidelle is.”

I caught myself saying that, but unlike the first time, I didn’t react. Instead, I leaned my back against a nearby building, holding the moon-sun flower close to my chest as I felt my heart pounding like crazy. I think I finally understand what Ms. Accord what talking about. What all these weird feelings where trying to say to me all this time. There’s no denying it now, it’s the truth.

I’ve fallen in love with Lidelle.


	9. Summer Festival: Reborn Rivalry

**Amitie’s POV**

 

_Takes place on the same day as Chapter 8._

“Thanks for coming to get me.” I said to Raffina. We were sitting at a local burger restaurant that she brought me to which had just recently opened near her house.

“No problem, Ami.” Raffina replied. “But what was the problem? You sounded stressed on the phone.”

“Ally.”

“Oh boy…what did she do this time?”

“ _Well…_ ” I started blushing while remembering what was about to come out of Ally’s mouth.

“H-Hey, Raffi. You mind if I whisper it to you?”

“Uh, sure.”

I whispered what happened earlier into Raffina’s ear, and soon enough she started blushing.

“ **S-SERIOUSLY?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THAT GIRL?!** ” She shouted.

“I ask myself that almost every day.” I said following a sigh. “But other than her perverted thoughts and actions, Ally’s a real good best friend.”

“Really? I don’t see it.”

“Raffi…”

“Okay. Explain.”

“Thank you.” I said with a giggle. “Back when we lived in the city, me and Ally would do everything together. We went to the same school and had many sleepovers when we were younger. It was so much fun.”

“I see.”

“That is, until the assaults happened…”

“O-Oh.”

Me and Raffina always get uncomfortable whenever we bring up the assaults. Knowing that I almost died twice because of it still haunts my memories, and the fact I brought Raffina into it and it almost killed her, too…that alone makes my heart ache every time I think about it.

“H-Hey…Ami?” Raffina shyly said, noticing the tears forming in my eyes.

“ ***sniff*** I’m okay, Raffi. Really, I am.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Just know that Ally was a good friend during that time, and she still is today…despite her flaws.”

“Okay then…”

“Here your burgers, ladies. I do hope you enjoy.” The waiter said as he brought our food to our table.

“Thank you, sir.” We both said. Once he left, we looked at the burgers in front of us.

“Geez, these things are huge.” Raffina said.

“And they’re pretty heavy, too.” I added, picking up the burger and holding it in my hands. We both took one big bite into them and didn’t move for a couple of seconds.

“ **OH. MY. GOD.** ” We both said. We looked down at our burgers for a bit then starred at each other’s mind-blown faces.

“…”

“…”

“ **THIS IS THE BEST BURGER I’VE EVER HAD!!!** ” We both shouted. We then continued to devour the burgers, and when we finished, we each order another to go.

 

After we ate the burger of our dreams, we decided to just walk around town enjoying our time alone with each other. Now that I think about it, you could probably call this a date. I mean, we’ve already had our first one, so it wouldn’t hurt to have more, right?

“So what do you wanna do now, Ami?” Raffina asked me.

“ _Hm_. Not sure.” I said. “The whole reason I wanted to leave was because of Ally, but now I don’t know what else to do.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

We continued walking around and ended up in the plaza, where we a bunch of flyers hung around. Raffina took one off one of the walls and read what it said.

“Oh, yeah. The Summer Festival. I still have to get a new kimono. My old one…doesn’t…fit.” She said.

“Yeah, I need a new one too. My body kinda grew out of my old one.” I replied.

_Especially in the chest area…_

“Well, we can go buy them right now if you want.”

“Is Oshare Bones the only person in town who sells them?”

“Unfortunately.”

The both of us sighed at the thought of wearing a ridiculously pattered kimono picked out by Oshare, claiming that it’s so _psychedelic_.

“Let’s just get it over with.” I said.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Raffina agreed.

We started walking to Oshare’s store, excited to get new kimonos, but worried about what they would look like. We were about 5 minutes away when we saw someone up ahead.

“Hey, isn’t that Harpy over there?” Raffina asked.

“Yeah, it is her. She looks kinda sad, though.” I said. Then I proceeded to call out to her.

“Hey, Harpy!”

Harpy looked up at us with a sad look on her faces. She was happy to see us, but the sadness took over her emotions.

“Oh. Hey, Amitie. Hey, Raffina.” She said with a sorrow tone.

“Harpy, what’s wrong? You look depressed.” I asked.

“Well, I was with Ally, showing her my new living spot. Then when we went frolicking in the flowers nearby, she got sad and said she was going home. And now I’m alone…and bored…and hungry…and thirsty…and bored.”

“You said _bored_ twice.”

“Did I? I didn’t notice.”

_Wow, Arle was right. She really is an airhead._

“Anyway…did you try talking to her?”

“I did, but she said she wanted to be alone, and sounded really really sad when she said that, which made me really really sad, too.”

“I see. We should go look for her.”

“Hold on, Ami. Maybe we should just let Ally have her space.” Raffina suggested.

“But I’m worried, Raffi. I’ve known her for years. It’s not normal for the words _Ally_ and _sad_ to appear in the same sentence. Something’s definitely upsetting her.”

“I know you’re worried, but what’s going to happen if you just show up bombarding her with questions? You may make her more upset.”

I didn’t want to admit it, but Raffina’s right. If I just run up to Ally in the state she’s in, especially after I threw her out the house this morning, it might ruin our friendship.

“Alright, Raffi. You’ve convinced me.” I said.

“I’m so happy you’re not stubborn.” Raffina said back with a smile.

“But I’m still sad…and alone…and bored…and”

“Okay, Harpy, we get it!”

Raffina then looked back at the flyer in her hands and gained an idea.

“Hey, Harpy. You still like to sing, right?”

“Sing? Oh yeah! I love singing! It makes me really really happy!”

“Then how about you enter the summer festival’s singing competition?”

“…”

“The what?” Harpy looked at us with a puzzled look on her face.

“A competition is an event where you get compete against other people in order to win 1st place.” I explained.

“ _Oh!_ That sounds really fun! I wanna try! I wanna try!”

“You should. You have an amazing singing voice.”

“ **HA!** As if this _child_ has a chance of beating me!” We heard a new voice coming from behind us. I heard Raffina growling next to me, with both her hands in the form of a fist and her face looking like she’s pissed as hell.

“Damn! I know that voice! I wish I didn’t…but I do!” She said, filled with rage.

We looked over to see a girl with purple hair, wearing a purple shirt, black shorts with a white skull on the left side, white flip-flops on her feet, a white wristband on each arm, and…she had black horns coming from her head.

“ _Aw_ , Raffina. Didn’t see you there. Guess my 20/20 vision has blinded me from how, what’s the word…imperfect you are to me.”

“Damn it, Peruvis! I thought you moved away for good!” Raffina shouted.

“My, my. Still have a potty mouth, do we? No wonder you got thrown out of martial arts class.” The girls teased.

“You mean after **I** won the tournament?” Raffina teased back with a smug on her face.

“ **GRR!** You’ve got some nerve bring that back up!”

“ **Hmph!** Look who’s talking!”

The two girls continued to stare at each other with a dark aura around them and looks on their faces that would make others think that they’re about to kill each other. Harpy was trembling in fear behind me, shielding her eyes from the scary encounter with my hair.

“Amitie…I’m scared…” She whispered to me. To be honest, I was too. But someone has to stop these two from going at it in the middle of town.

“H-Hey, Raffina…” I softly said while tugging on her shirt sleeve. I called her by her full name because I felt like calling her Raffi would make things worse.

“Huh? Oh sorry…Amitie.” Raffina said with a short break in the middle. I guess she had the same thought as me. “You guys probably want to know who this _thing_ is, right?”

“Excuse me?! This _thing_?! How **DARE** you refer to me as such?!” The purple haired girl yelled.

“Shut it, you thing!” Raffina yelled back.

“Why you little…”

“Raffina…” I tugged on her shirt again.

“Right, sorry. Anyway this _thing_ is named Peruvis. She and I used to be in martial arts class together, although I wish we weren’t.”

“ **Hmph.** I second that.” Peruvis added.

“No one asked you, thing!”

“ **QUIT CALLING ME A THING, YOU DAMN IMBECILE!** ”

“ **WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IMBECILE, YOU DAMN BLOCKHEAD?!** ”

“Raffina!” I yelled this time. At this point I was starting to lose interest in this whole thing.

“S-Sorry, Amitie…” She said softly.

“Wait, **you’re** Amitie?” Peruvis asked me.

“Yeah, why?”

“You’re the one who found the Red Puyo Hat, aren’t you?”

“Y-Yeah, but how…”

“I demand that you give the Red Puyo Hat to me at once!”

“H-Huh?! W-Wait a sec! How do…”

“Hold it, Peruvis! You don’t **_demand_** anyone, let alone my girlfriend!” Raffina shouted.

“Y-Your…Your girlfriend?!”

Raffina tried to hold in her laughter from Peruvis’ reaction. “Guess that’s another win for me.” She teased.

“B-But how?! Since when were you a lesbian anyway?!”

“I’ve only realized recently, but I guess I’ve been one all my life. _Jealous_?”

“ **GRR!** So not only was I second in the tournament, but also second in finding my true love?! This sucks!”

“True love?” I asked. “Peruvis, are you…”

“ _sigh._ If you must know…yes I’m a lesbian, too.”

“What’s a lesbian?” Harpy asked, now saying something after a few minutes of staying silent due to fear.

“Uh…I’ll tell you later, Harpy.” I said to her.

_I really hope she forgets to ask again…_

“A-Anyway, is that what sparked this rivalry you guys clearly have?” I asked Raffina and Peruvis.

“Well, one of them.” Raffina said. “Like I said, we were in martial arts class together and we would often compete against each other for top rank, which by the way belongs to me.”

“Ooooo!” Harpy said in amassment.

“It would’ve been mine if I had a bit more power…” Peruvis said.

“Power? You mean from that pathetic little wisp of yours? No offense, Phoenix.”

“None taken.” Suddenly a white ghost-looking thing with black eyes appeared out of Peruvis’ back.

“ **AHHH! WH-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!** ” I asked, kinda scared.

“This is my slave, Phoenix. He does whatever I say whenever I tell him to.” Peruvis explained.

“Well, aren’t you a pathological liar…” Phoenix retorted.

“What did you say?!”

“The name’s Phoenix, the one part she got right.” He continued, completely ignoring Peruvis. “I’m a soul that lives in her body and gives her energy to live.”

“A soul that lives in her body?! How is that possible?!”

“Well, my dear Amitie,” Peruvis re-entered the conversation. “I am what’s known as a tortured soul. A being who technically doesn’t exist in this world due to a horrific incident that left me dead. Don’t ask how I died…I don’t want to talk about it.”

“W-Wow…that sounds horrible.”

“A-And scary…” Harpy added.

“Yeah I admit, it’s a sad story.” Raffina said. “But that doesn’t excuse you from using that power to cheat your way through the tournament.”

“For the last time, I didn’t cheat! You’re just jealous!”

“Of what? You dying? Who would be jealous of that?”

“She’s got a point.” Phoenix said.

“Shut it, Phoenix!” Peruvis shouted at him.

“Hey, Peruvis, I’ve been meaning to ask you…how do you know about the Red Puyo Hat?” I asked her.

“That’s because I’m trying to collect them all.”

“ **WH-WHAT?!** W-Why would you want to do that?!” Me and Raffina yelled.

“Oh? So you two don’t know?” Peruvis teased.

“Know what?” Raffina asked.

Peruvis giggled a bit while having a smug look on her face. “Well let me enlighten you girls. Whenever the 5 Puyo Hats are brought together, they grant you a universal-changing wish.”

“Th-They do?!” Both me and Raffina asked.

“Yep. And I plan to claim that wish for myself. Now tell me where the hat is.”

“L-Listen, Peruvis. The reward maybe amazing, but what those hats do to you when you put them on isn’t worth it. Trust me.” I said.

“Huh? What do you mean? They’re perfectly fine, and I’ll prove it too. Phoenix! Bring the item!”

Phoenix didn’t do or say anything.

“Phoenix!” Peruvis shouted again.

Still nothing.

“ _sigh._ Phoenix, can you please bring the item for me?” She asked in a polite tone.

“See? Now was that so hard?” Phoenix said while patting her head.

“Don’t rub it in!”

Phoenix went back into Peruvis’ back and a few moments later came back out with something we never thought we would see ever again.

“ **T-THE YELLOW PUYO HAT?!** ” Once again, me and Raffina shouted.

“Surprised?” Peruvis asked in a teasing way.

“H-How the hell did **you** get it?!” Raffina asked her.

“Like I’m going to tell you! All you need to know is that it’s mine! And I win the singing competition, the Green Puyo Hat will be mine, as well!”

“ **T-THE GREEN PUYO HAT?!** ”

“It’s rumored to be the grand prize for 1st place.” Phoenix explained. “When Peruvis heard about it, she packed all her stuff and came back here. It was actually hilarious seeing her that excited over something that may or may not be true.”

“P-Phoenix!” Peruvis shouted with a faint blush.

“Aw, lighten up, will ya? I was only messing with ya.”

“A-Anyway…don’t get in my way, you weird-looking angle. The less effort the better.” Peruvis said.

“You’re not going to take that, are you Harpy?” Raffina asked.

“…”

“Harpy?”

We looked over to see Harpy slumped over next to a streetlamp completely knocked out. The rest of us had a mixed reaction of confused, shocked, and just straight up amazed.

“D-Did she fall asleep…in the middle of town?” Peruvis asked.

“Yeah. She’s a bit of an airhead.” Raffina answered.

“Is that normal nowadays?” Phoenix asked.

“No. No it’s not.” I answered.

 

It took us a while to wake Harpy up, and when we did, she kept complaining that she was hungry. So we took her back to the burger place and ordered her a burger. Like us, she really enjoyed it.

“Woah! This burger thing is super-duper yummy!” She said. Side note, we had to explain to her what a burger was. Apparently, whatever world she, Arle, and Schezo came from doesn’t have those either.

“Right? It’s so good, we ordered seconds for later.” I said.

“Ooo, can I get a second one, too? I don’t have any of that money stuff you told me about.”

Side note, we had to explain to her what money was too.

“Later, Harpy. Right now, we to discuss how you’re going to win the singing competition.” Raffina said.

“Huh? I need to win? I thought I was only having fun!”

“Well, now you need to do that **and** win.”

“ _Aw, why?!_ ” Harpy whined. “Is it about that hat thing that scary purple girl had?”

Me and Raffina looked at each other in pure shock.

_She was awake during that? When did she fall asleep?_

“Uh…yeah, Harpy. That’s exactly it.” I said.

“It is? What does that hat do, anyway?”

“Well…” I had to think of a way explain it to Harpy while making sure I didn’t confuse her even more than she already is.

“…Let’s just say it does really bad and scary things.” Raffina said.

“ _Oh!_ I get it now!”

“Nice save.” I whispered to her. Raffina replied to me with a wink of her eye.

“So do you get it now, Harpy?” I asked her.

“Yep! I’m gonna win that competition and keep that hat from doing any bad and scary things! I’m so excited, that I’m gonna go home now and practice! Bye-Bye, you two!” Harpy replied, then flew off to wherever her new home was. We kinda forgot to ask her. We slumped down in our seats exhausted from what today brought us.

“ _Sigh._ I can’t believe we have to deal with the Puyo Hats again.” I said.

“Yeah, I know. I thought we were done with them for good.” Raffina added. Then she looked at me with a face of huge concern.

“What?” I asked.

“Don’t _what_ me! I’m worried about you!”

“I know you are. To be honest, I’m scared too. But these are the last two Puyo Hats. Once Harpy wins the green one, we’ll be able to keep it from doing any harm.”

“Yeah, but Peruvis has the yellow one. And trust me, convincing her to give it up is damn near impossible.”

“Well, we still have to try, right? As long as nobody puts them on, once they’re sealed up, we won’t have to deal with them anymore.”

“Yeah, true. Plus, there’s that universal-changing wish Peruvis mentioned about.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot. What would we wish for?”

We sat there thinking of all the possible wishes the hats could grant, and in our minds, the bad outweighed the good.

“O-On second thought, a universal-changing wish would just as bad as putting the hats on, don’t you think?” Raffina asked.

“Y-Yeah, if not worse.” I replied.

After we ate another burger, we decided to head for Raffina’s house since it was the closest from the restaurant. Because of that same reason, I decided to spend the night there too. We were standing in front of her house when out of nowhere, Raffina grabbed my hand.

“Hey, Ami…”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Back when I was arguing with Peruvis…thanks for not calling me Raffi then.” She gained a faint blush on her cheek, which I found to be cute. I then gave her a quick kiss on her lips and looked at her with lovestrucked eyes.

“You’re welcome…Raffi.”         


	10. Summer Festival: Absent-Minded Siblings

**Arle’s POV**

 

_But still…I wonder what technique Ally was talking about yesterday?_

_…_

_Eh, I’m probably over thinking it._

I was laying down on a bench in the park once again, listening to my inner thoughts. I’ve been doing this a lot lately, ever since I’ve met Sig the other day. Speaking of Sig, he’s been the main topic of these inner thought readings.

_He’s really…how should I say it…odd, but in a nice way. He’s really smart when it comes to bugs…_

_…_

_…But that’s basically all I known about him. He didn’t really tell me about himself or his life, other than the fact that he moved here recently. That’s something we have in common…sort of._

I went deeper into my mind with these thoughts about Sig. One particular thought made me blush in my cheeks a little.

“Plus…he’s also kinda cute.”

“Who’s cute?”

“ **WAH!** ”

I screamed a little as I jumped up from the bench slightly scared out my mind. As I fell to the ground, I looked up to see Sig standing over me…with the same emotionless expression on his face that I just can’t seem to stop thinking about.

“S-Sig?! H-How long were you standing there?!” I asked.

“Not long.” Was all Sig said.

“D-Did you hear me say anything?”

“Well, you did say someone was cute…”

_Oh no, he heard me!_

“But you had your eyes closed, so I thought you were sleep taking.”

“O-Oh. Right. How silly of me.”

_That was close._

“Yeah, it was pretty funny to watch.”

“ _Hey…_ ”

Sig covered his mouth with his red hand, trying to hold in his laughter.

“Sorry.” He said, still struggling. Watching him do it made me laugh at him. He eventually gave up and started laughing with me. It took us a while for us to stop laughing, though. We had to sit back on the bench so we wouldn’t fall on the grass laughing.

“So what brings you here, Sig? Looking for bugs again?” I asked.

Sig didn’t say anything and instead moved his normal right hand to his chin, moving it back and forth a little.

“…Oh, yeah. I’m here to get my sister.” He finally said.

“Huh? You have a sister?”

“Yep.”

“Wow. What’s her name?”

“Chu.”

“Chu?”

“Chu!”

“ **WAH!** ”

I screamed a second time as I heard a third voice coming from behind me. I turned around to see a little girl with long white hair and red eyes. She was wearing all black: a sweater, shorts, and shoes (although they had a little white on them). But the most noticeable thing about this girl was that she had the exact same look on her face as Sig: unamused of everything.

“Oh. There you are, Chu.” Sig said.

“Huh? This is Chu?” I asked.

“Yep.”

“So is popping up out of nowhere a normal thing in your family?”

“What do you mean?” Sig gained a confused look on his face.

“Never mind.” I said, realizing that I wasn’t going to get an answer.

“Shigu, who is this girl?” Chu asked.

“Did she just call you ‘shigu’?”

“That’s her way of saying my name.” Sig explained. “She has a bad memory when it comes to names. Or anything for that matter.”

“I see. And you’re not bothered by that?”

“Not really. I think it’s kinda cute.”

“ _Okay…”_

_This boy just keeps getting weirder and weirder._

“Chu. This is Arle.” Sig continued.

“Hiya, Chu. My name’s Arle Nadja. But you can just call me Arle. Nice to meet you.” I said.

Chu didn’t say anything. All she did was tilt her head to the side like she was confused about something.

“Master…is she your girlfriend?” She asked.

“ **G-GIRLFRIEND?!** ” I shouted, completely off guard. “N-Now, now, Chu. L-Let’s not jump to conclu…”

“Yeah.”

“ **SIG!!!** ” My heart was beating fast at this point.

“What? You really are. I mean, you are a girl…and you are my friend.”

I did a huge sigh of relief after hearing Sig’s explanation, even though he was way off.

“Sig…that’s not what a girlfriend is.” I said.

“It isn’t?”

“No. Not even close.”

“Oh.” Was all he said.

“Anyway, Chu.” I turned to her. “Your brother and I are just normal friends.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Oh.” Was all she said.

_These two really are brother and sister._

“Ready to go, Chu?” Sig asked his sister.

“Yeah.” Chu answered.

“Wait, where you guys going?” I asked.

“To buy Chu a kimono.”

“Kimono!” Chu shouted. She sounded happy, but like her brother, I can’t tell because of her current facial expression.

“What’s a kimono?” I asked.

“It’s a robe girls wear during festivals and such.” Sig answered.

“Oh! Like the summer festival?”

“Yep.”

“Wow. Maybe I should get one.”

“I bet you’ll look pretty in it.”

“P-Pretty, huh? Y-You really think so?” I was blushing throughout that entire question. Sig realized what he just said and now he was blushing.

“Y-Yeah. W-Why not?” He said.

“Shigu…Aruru…you’re both red.” Chu said.

“A-Aruru?!” I shouted.

“That’s how she remembers your name as. It that bad?” Sig asked.

“N-No. It’s just…I used to know a guy who would call me that. A guy I really didn’t like.”

“Oh.” Was all he said. Then for some reason he looked away from me with the same blushed cheeks from earlier.

“H-Hey…Arle. D-Do you want to come with us?” He asked, still looking away from me. “I-If you don’t have any money…I could…y’know…buy you one.”

I suddenly felt my heart skip a few beats. For some reason, him trying to ask me to tag along with them was really cute. It was a new side of him that I’ve never seen before, and I really liked it.

“S-Sure. I-I would love to come with you guys.” I replied, also while looking away from him and blushing from excitement. Sig looked up at me with a smile and I did the same.

Chu didn’t know what was happening and tilted her head in confusion.

 

By the time both of our nervousness went down, the three of us headed for the plaza to buy whatever these kimonos were. Sig never described what they looked like, so I’m going to have a blind experience. Then again, he did say that they were for girls, so he probably doesn’t know either.

“Hey, Arle. Do you know where we could buy some kimonos?” Sig asked me once we were deeper inside the plaza.

“Uh…not sure.” I said. “We could try this one store I went to the other day. It’s where I got this fighter outfit from.”

Side note, I was still wearing the fighter outfit. It looked too cool for me to change back into my old clothes.

“Really? What store is that?”

“It’s a store that’s own by a skeleton.”

“Skeleton? Shigu! I wanna go!” Chu said while tugging on his jacket sleeve.

“I don’t know…” Sig looked unsure of the whole concept of a skeleton selling clothes.

“It sounds weird, I know. Most of the things in this world are pretty weird, in my eyes. But this skeleton’s real nice once you get to know him.”

“Shigu…” Chu wined (At least I think she did. Still can’t tell from just looking at her).

“Alright. If it’ll make you happy, Chu.” Sig said.

“Yay!” Chu cheered as she ran up ahead of us.

“Skeleton! Skeleton! Skeleton!” She chanted.

Sig and I couldn’t hold our laughter and chuckled a bit.

“You’re a really good big brother, you know that?” I said to Sig.

“Yeah, I guess.” He said.

We looked into each other’s eyes once again and just like the other times, looked away with blushed cheeks when we realized what we were doing.

“S-So, uh…I-I think the store’s this way.” I stuttered.

“Y-Yeah, sure. L-Lead the way.” Sig also stuttered.

 

To be honest, I forgot where **exactly** where the store was. All of these buildings looked so weird, that it’s hard to memorize them all. I don’t why they can’t just have a simple stand that sells everything, kinda like Nohoho back home…without the stupid arguments.

I was about to give up and ask someone for directions when I was lucky enough to run into…

“Oh hey! There you are, Arle!”

“Oh! Hey, Amitie! Hey, Raffina!”

_Thank god I ran into these two._

“I see your with Sig again. And who’s the little girl?” Raffina asked.

“Chu!”

“What?”

“Her name’s Chu. She’s Sig’s little sister.” I explained.

“I see. Well, nice to meet you, Chu. My name’s Raffina, and this here’s Amitie.”

“Hiya, Chu. Nice to meet ya.” Amitie said.

“It’s nice to meet you too, uh…”

“…”

“…”

“…Amytee and Waffine.”

“It’s _Amitie_.”

“It’s _Raffina_.”

“Sorry, guys. Chu’s really bad with names.” Sig said.

“Shigu. I wanna see the skeleton.”

“Shigu?” Both Amitie and Raffina said.

“That’s how she calls Sig.” I explained.

“Right…”

I suddenly felt a tug from the bottom of my fighter dress.

“Aruru…you said you knew where the skeleton was.” Chu wined at me.

“So I’m guessing that Aruru…” Amitie asked.

“Is how she says my name.”

“Right. I think I’m starting to understand all this.”

“I’m still lost, but I’ll get it later.” Raffina said. “What’s Chu talking about?”

“I’m going to buy Chu and Arle kimonos.” Sig said. “Arle said she knows where to get them, but I think she forgot.”

“H-Hey! I didn’t forget! I’m just thinking!” I said, sounding insulted.

“It’s okay, Arle. In fact, we were going to buy kimonos ourselves.”

“We can take you guys to Oshare’s shop.” Amitie said. She then turned to Chu. “That’s where the skeleton is, Chu.”

“Yay! Skeleton! Skeleton! Skeleton!” Chu chanted. The rest of us giggled at her antics.

“Your sisters adorable, Sig.” Raffina said. “How old is she?”

“She’s 10.” Sig said.

“Wow, 10? She has so much energy.”

“Yeah, but she has that same carefree face as Sig.” I said.

“Shigu, what does Aruru mean by _carefree_?” Chu asked her brother.

“Not sure. I don’t get it, either.” Sig replied.

“They really are brother and sister, huh?” Amitie asked.

“Yep. Pretty much.” I said.

Sig and Chu starred at us with confused looks on their emotionless face.

 

Amitie and Raffina took us to the store where this Oshare guy sold clothes and such. When we went inside, we were greeted by said skeleton. Chu couldn’t hold her excitement, so Sig had to hold her hand for a while.

“Hey there, Oshare. It’s been a while.” Raffina said.

“My, my. If it isn’t Raffina and Amitie. Indeed, it has been a while since you last came to my shop.” The skeleton said.

“Yeah, sorry. A lot of things happened since that visit.” Amitie said.

“Yeah, so I’ve heard.” Oshare then looked behind them and saw me, Sig, and Chu standing in the back.

“Hey, there. I remember you. You bought that fighter outfit from me a couple of days ago. I see you’re still wearing it.” He said.

“Yeah I did.” I answered. “I really enjoy this outfit so much that I haven’t worn the clothes that I came here with since. Thanks for selling it to me, uh…Oshare Bones, was it?”

“Oh, please. Just call me Oshare.”

“Okay then. Thanks, Oshare.” I said with a smile. “My name’s Arle Nadja, by the way. But you can just call me Arle.”

“Well then your welcome, Arle.” Oshare said. “Who are the other two behind you?”

“Sig.”

“Chu.”

“Uh, what?”

“We don’t blame you for being confused. They’re pretty weird.” I said.

“ _Hey…_ ” Sig said, sounding insulted.

“Anyway, this here is Sig and his sister Chu. They just moved here a couple days ago.”

“Hey.” Was all Sig said.

“Skeleton.” Was all Chu said.

“Uh…” Oshare was even more confused.

“See? I told you they were weird.”

“Yeah. I see it now.” He said. “So what brings you all here? Buying kimonos, I assume?”

“Yep. We’re going to the summer festival.” Amitie said.

“Well, you’re in luck. A whole bunch of them just came in yesterday.”

“Wow! How lucky, indeed!”

“I’ll be with you all in a second. I just need to help out this other customer.”

“Really? Who’s that?” Raffina asked.

We then heard a curtain open in the back of the store revealing a purple-haired girl with black horns from behind it.

“Hey, Oshare! Do you have anything that’s easy on the wai…” The girl stopped talking as soon as she saw us. More like when she saw Raffina.

“Oh, great. It’s you.” She said in a snarky tone.

“I feel the same way about you.” Raffina said in the same tone.

The two then started starring each other down with a dark aura flowing around them. Their hands were in the shape of fist, looking like they were about to fight.

“Cool…” I heard Chu say behind me.

“Uh, Amitie? What’s going on?” I asked.

“Well, you see that purple-haired girl over there?” She asked me while pointing at the girl.

“Yeah. What about her?”

“Well, her name’s Peruvis. For some reason, she and Raffina are huge rivals towards each other.”

“Oh, a rival huh? I’ve had my share of those.”

“Really? Who?”

“Well, technically Schezo’s one of them, but we get along really well. I’ve tons others, too many to count though.”

“Oh wow.” Amitie sounded amazed.

“Hey, you two! Knock it off! This isn’t a place for fighting!” Oshare yelled.

“Sorry, Oshare. I just didn’t think I would see Peruvis here.” Raffina said.

“And I was having a good day, too. Until you showed up.” Peruvis said.

“What are you doing here, anyway?”

“What do you think? I’m buying a kimono!”

“Really? You don’t have one either, Peruvis?” Amitie asked.

“Well, I do…I just…grew out of it, that’s all.”

“Oh, I see. Too short?”

“More like too small. When she couldn’t get it on, she spent the last 30 minutes starring at the mirror in her underwear trying to find spots where she gain weight.” A white ghost, that came out of Peruvis’ back, told us what happened.

“ **P-PHOENIX!!!** ” Peruvis yelled.

“What? I’m only telling the truth. Something you never do.”

“But there are just somethings you **DON’T BRING UP!!!** ”

Raffina quickly started laughing and Amitie did a facepalm following it.

“Hey, Amitie? Why is there a ghost coming out her back?” I asked.

“She’s a tortured soul.” Sig said.

“Huh? A what?”

“Sig, you know about those things?” Amitie asked.

“Yeah.” Sig answered as he walked up to Peruvis and the white ghost.

“I’ve heard of people like you, though I’ve never seen one up close.” He said to her. Peruvis didn’t say anything and instead got closer towards Sig. For some reason, this got me a little angry. I wanted to say something, but my confusion overtook my anger.

“Weird…this energy surrounding you…you wouldn’t happen to be a bored soul, are you?” She asked.

“Yep. Me and my sister, Chu.”

“Chu?”

“Chu!” Chu suddenly stood next to her brother.

“I see. It’s the first time I’m seeing a bored soul, let alone two of them.”

“Wait a sec. Tortured soul? Bored soul? What is going on?” I asked. My confusion was so high, that if there was a gauge next to me, it would be broken right now.

Sig and Chu looked at each other and did a slight nod. They then turned back to face us.

“Hey. You guys can come out now.” Sig said.

“Huh? Who can come out?” Raffina asked.

Suddenly a blue ghost came out of Sig’s back and a black one came out of Chu’s. It was weird, scary, but mostly cool. So cool, that I couldn’t stop starring.

“S-Sig…wh-what is this?” Amitie asked.

“Allow me to explain.” Said the ghost, who I assume it’s name is Phoenix. “When a human dies of an inhumane cause, they are brought back to life with a completely new soul depending on how they died.”

 _W-Wait. Sig…died?!_ My heart nearly sunk after hearing that.

Phoenix continued his explanation. “When someone becomes a tortured soul, it’s because they died of being tortured or something related to it. When someone becomes a bored soul, well…it’s kind of obvious.”

“Wait. So what you’re saying is…” Raffina said.

“Yep. These two **LITERALLY** died of boredom.”

Me, Amitie, and Raffina gave out one of those _‘You can’t be serious_ ’ sighs.

_Of course. Sig is the only person I know who can **literally** die of boredom._

 

After that weirdly big secret was revealed, we went and looked around the store to find some kimonos to wear. I eventually found a cute blue one with white dots all over it. I tried it on and thought it looked good on me, so I showed it to Sig.

“Hey, Sig. How do I look?” I asked him.

Sig took a while to say something. His cheeks were red and he kept trying to look away, but failed.

“A-Arle.” He finally said. “Y-You look…really cute in that.”

“Y-You think I look…c-cute?” I stuttered. My cheeks were now just as red as Sig’s, and my heart was beating faster than whenever I was playing Puyo with someone. We kept starring at each other until we looked away again, feeling embarrassed of what we were doing.

“S-So, uh…I-Is that the one you want?” Sig asked after a few seconds of silence.

“Uh, y-yeah. I-I really like this one.” I said.

“Okay. I’ll buy it for you.”

“Shigu. I like this one.” Chu came up to us wearing a white children’s kimono (which goes up to her knees) with pink rabbit ears all over it.

“It looks nice, Chu.” Sig said.

“Yeah, you really look cute in that.” I added.

“You look cute in yours too, Aruru.”

“Aw, thanks Chu.”

After we changed back into our regular clothes, Sig paid for the kimonos and us three waited outside for the others to finish. While sitting next to Sig, something was circling my mind. It was bothering me the entire time I was picking out kimonos. I knew I had to ask him, because if I didn’t, the thoughts will probably eat me alive.

“Hey…Sig.” I finally spoke.

“Yeah?” He turned to face me.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you died?”

Sig looked away from me once he heard that question. He had an uncomfortable look on his face. I felt like I struck a nerve with him, and I instantly regretted it. Finally, Sig sighed and looked towards his feet as he gained enough courage to talk again.

“I…I just…I just didn’t want you to worry.” He said.

“Not to worry? Sig! I’m your friend! Friends are supposed to worry about each other! Even if it was something as weird as dying of boredom, the fact that you died at all and you didn’t even bother to tell me…”

I stopped talking and felt my heart racing at full speed. Tears were running down my face as I tried to prevent a full-on breakdown in the middle of town.

“…It hurt me, Sig. It really did.”

I sat there waiting for Sig to say something. To at least try to explain why he kept such a horrible secret from me. But I didn’t get a response. More like, I didn’t get a vocal response. Because the next thing I knew, I felt Sig wrapped around me in a tight hug. His different shaped hands interlocking behind my back. I’ve never been this close to him before, and my extremely red cheeks were to prove it. I was about to say something to get Sig off, but then said something that overruled my thinking.

“Arle…I’m sorry.”

At that point, I had completely broke. My eyes turned into a waterfall of tears as I returned Sig’s hug to him. We didn’t moved for what fell like hours. Did I wanted to let go? No. Like hell I did. I wanted us to stay like this forever. I felt like we both got closer to each other, in some spiritual way that I can’t really understand. But I did understand that we literally can’t just sit here hugging each other forever, so we eventually let go of each other and starred at each other for probably like the fourth time or something (I actually lost count). We broke off the stare down when we heard the store door open.

“Oh hey, sorry we took so long. Those two were fighting most of the time.” Amitie said while pointing behind her to Raffina and Peruvis still arguing. “You guys didn’t wait long, did you?”

“No, it wasn’t long at all.” I said. “We were just fine, right Sig?”

“Yeah.” Was all he said.

Raffina and Peruvis eventually stopped fighting and went home. It was just me, Amitie, Sig, and Chu standing the park. Amitie went to a corner to call Melody on that phone thing of her while I was talking with Sig.

“Well, this has been some day, hasn’t it?” I asked.

“Yeah, it sure has.” Sig replied.

We then went back to silence. We seem to keep doing that a lot. I hope it doesn’t become a trend between us. I then turned my head away while blushing a bit, much like Sig did when he asked me to come shopping with them.

“H-Hey…S-Sig. D-Do you want to…y’know…go with me to the summer festival? W-We can go as a group…I-If you want.” I stuttered that entire question. My cheeks were beat red at this point.

Sig looked at me with the same colored cheeks as mine and grew a small smile on his face.

“S-Sure. I-I go with you, A-Arle.” He said. It made me smile when he said he’ll go with me. I think I felt my heart skip a few beats.

“Hey, Chu. Arle’s coming to the summer festival with us.”

Chu didn’t say anything and kept looking back and forth between us.

“Shigu. Are you and Aruru going on a date?” She asked.

“ **D-DATE?!** ” We both shouted.

“C-Chu. D-Don’t make such wild accusations.” Sig told his sister. Chu didn’t know what he was talking about and just tilted her head in confusion.

“Hey, Arle. Ready to go?” I heard Amitie ask me.

“Yeah! Be right there!” I answered, then turned back to Sig.

“See you there, then?” I asked him.

“Yeah, see you there.” He said.

We both waved goodbye to each other and I caught up to Amitie as we walked home together.

“You and Sig seemed to be getting alone well, Arle.” Amitie said to me.

“Yeah, he’s a pretty good friend.” I replied.

“Friend?”

“Yeah, friend. Why did you say it like that?”

“You don’t notice it?”

“Notice what?”

Amitie started giggling while putting one hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Arle. You’ll notice it soon enough.” She said with a wink of an eye.

“Notice what? Come on, tell me!”

“ ***giggle*** You’ll see.”

“ **Hmm.** Meanie.”

Thanks to Amitie, I now have something else to think about in my inner thoughts.    


	11. Summer Festival: Starry Night Confession

**Lidelle’s POV**

 

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“ _Nuuu…Poochy…”_

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“ _Uugh. Come on, Poochy…it’s my day off…just let me sleep…”_

“ _ARF! ARF ARF!”_

“ _Ugh…fine. I’ll get up._ ”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

I heard Poochy jump off my bed and phase through my door. I then got up and stretched a bit before heading for the bathroom. As I starred at my refection, I started talking to myself.

“Why…just why? Why do I feel so…empty?”

I’ve been saying these words to myself for a while now. Ever since Ally went back home after our sleepover 3 days ago. I remember us having so much fun that night. We played lots of games, talked a lot, ate tons of food (well, **I** ate tons of food. I swear, this growth spurt’s going to be the end of me.) And most of all, I showed Ally my horns. It took a lot of courage for me to do that, but like told Ally, I trust her. When she accepted me for who I am despite my so-called birth defect (which, now that I think about it, sounds worse than it actually is), It made me really happy. So happy that I felt my heart beating fast that night. And when Ally wanted me to sleep on her futon with her, and she accidently got close to me to the point where she was snuggling up against me…

_…It was the best night of my life! I never wanted it to end! I wanted to be next to Ally for the rest of my life! In fact, I want to be with her right now!_

“ ***moan*** Ally, I miss you!”

I quickly covered my mouth after realizing what I just yelled out.

“Wh-What did I just say?! That can’t be true, right?!”

I moved my hand towards my chest and felt that my heart was racing. It was going so fast, I thought I was having a heart attack. But it eventually calmed down and I went back to starring at my reflection.

“What’s happening to me?” I said to myself.

 

After that weird outburst that I hope no one heard, I went back to my room to change into a pair of white shorts and my favorite green sweater, then headed for the kitchen for anything to eat. Today is my day off from my shrine maiden duties, so I didn’t have to cook anything. But I found it weird that as I got closer to the end of the hallway that splits into the living room and kitchen, I didn’t smell any food. I mean yes, Mother can cook. That’s how I learned to do so, but she doesn’t do such extreme meals as I do, as she likes to call it. I was always something simple like regular pancakes, or regular waffles, or…pretty much food that a person without a growth spurt would eat. I reached the end of the hallway and entered the living room to see Mother sitting at the table in the middle.

“Good morning, Mother.” I greeted her.

“Good morning, Lidelle.” Mother greeted back. “I was afraid you were going to sleep all day.”

“Well, she is young, Auntie. Her sleeping all day would be expected.”

_Auntie? The only person I know who calls Mother that is…_

I stopped rubbing my eyes to see who Mother was talking to, and it took me by surprise.

“Hey, Lidelle. How’s it going?”

“Ringo? What are you doing here?”

“Huh? You mean Auntie didn’t tell you? I’m staying here for the summer.”

“Really?! Mother, how come you never told me?!”

“Did I not tell you? Huh. I guess I forgot. Sorry, Sweetie.”

“Mother, I sometimes worry about your bad memory.”

Ringo is my cousin who lives in Suzuran City. She sometimes comes to Primp to visit us, but this is the first time she was staying for a whole summer. We’re both the same age, being 15, but we have way different personalities. While I’m more shy and self-conscious, Ringo’s a bit more…adventurous, to put it in a nice way. She’s super curious about everything and because of that, she studies whenever she can. She’s a total math whiz and can pretty much solve any kind question. But sometimes, Ringo’s curiosity can cause a bit of problems.

“Well anyway, it’s nice to see you again, Ringo.” I said to her.

“Nice to see you again too, Lidelle.” Ringo said. “It’s been a while since we last saw each other, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, about a year and a half.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. In Suzuran, when you’re in your final year of middle school, you have to take a high school entrance exam. And I was studying like crazy.”

“Wow…I see.”

“You’re lucky, Lidelle, going to the same school until now. I’m surprised it only goes up to 9th grade.”

“Yeah, it’s sad. I’m going to miss that place, and my teacher.” I started feeling sad about not being in Ms. Accord’s classroom anymore. That’s when I felt a nudge on my leg.

“ ** _*whine*_** “ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“ _sigh_. Thanks, Poochy. You really know how to make me feel better.” I said while picking him up. He then started to lick my face repeatedly until I started laughing.

“H-Hey! Stop it, Poochy! I-It tickles!”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“So, did you guys ever find out what Poochy’s supposed to be?” Ringo asked.

“No, not yet.” Mother answered. “But I’m starting to believe that he and Lidelle are related.”

“Really? How so?”

“They both have never-ending appetites.”

“ **M-MOTHER!** ” I shouted. My cheeks were blushing from embarrassment.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Don’t feel bad about it, Lidelle. It’s completely normal for kids our age to have excessive hunger.” Ringo said, trying to make me feel better.

“Then how come you don’t, Ringo?” I asked.

“…”

Ringo didn’t say anything and looked away from me while trying to think of an answer to give. She eventually started digging through her bag and pulled out a white container from it.

“Uh…donut?” She asked with a smile.

I looked at her with an annoyed look at first, then it eventually turned into a smile with a giggle or two.

“You better be lucky that I’m hungry right now.” I said to her.

After we ate some of the stuff that Ringo brought with her, Mother asked me to show Ringo the room she’ll be using while she’s here. So me and her took her bags into the back and we entered the spare room that we have.

“Well, here it is.” I said as I opened the door.

“Woah, this room is huge! How do you and Auntie feel comfortable in these, Lidelle?” Ringo asked.

“Huh? It is really big?”

As I took another look at the empty room, I began getting memories of when Ally first saw my room. She said the exact same thing, but shrugged it as a compliment. But now, as I was thinking about Ally, I was starting to see it for myself.

_Huh. Maybe these rooms are huge…_

“Lidelle? Hey, Lidelle!”

“Huh?”

“You okay? You were spacing out just now.” Ringo asked me.

“Huh? Oh…yeah. I’m fine. Nothing to worry about.”

“Hmm…” Ringo was starring at me with one of her _you’re acting suspicious_ glares that she’s known for doing.

“Wh-What?”

“You sure you’re okay? You’re acting kinda weird.”

“I told you already, I’m fine…” I looked down from her with red cheeks.

“You just looked away from me.”

“ **Because you’re starring me down, Ringo!** ” I shouted.

“…”

“…”

“S-Sorry.” I said immediately after.

“No, I should be. I got a little carried away again.” Ringo admitted.

“ _A little?_ ”

“ _Hey…_ ”

“Sorry, sorry.” I said with a light giggle. Then I gave in to some thoughts I had earlier.

_I know I can’t keep this problem a secret forever. I going to have to talk it out with someone sooner or later. Maybe…_

“H-Hey…Ringo? Can I ask you something?” I asked.

“Sure, Lidelle. You can ask me anything. Well, almost anything.” Ringo said.

I wanted to know what she meant by that, but knowing my cousin, it’s probably something insane, so I didn’t ask. I instead took a deep breath and prepared to ask the question I really wanted to ask.

“Ringo…have you ever been… _close_ to someone?”

“Huh? Close? What do you mean by that?” She asked with a confused face. I was hoping that she would understand with that question alone, but I did knew that I would have to explain more anyway.

“W-Well…I met this girl named Ally couple months ago. Although she can be a little…perverted at times, she and I have a lot in common.”

“Really? Like what?”

“Well, we both play video games, read manga, love sweets, and other stuff.”

“Wow. Kinda sounds like me, aside from the perverted part.”

“Yeah, that trait of hers gets out of hand sometimes.”

“I see.”

“Anyway, a couple days ago we decided to have a sleepover here. And that night, some… ** _things_** happened.”

“W-Wait…wh-what… ** _things_**? Please tell me you didn’t…” Ringo started panicking.

At first I didn’t know what she was talking about, but after giving it some thought…

“ **N-NO NO NO NO NO! RINGO, YOU KNOW ME! I WOULD NEVER DO THAT, ESPECIALLY AT MY CURRENT AGE!** ” I shouted with the reddest of cheeks.

“Oh, thank god. Sorry for jumping to conclusions.”

“Eh, it’s okay. I mean, I’ve gotten used to you doing it so much. It’s pretty much expected from you.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” Ringo said, sounded insulted. “Anyway, continue on.”

“Right. Well, during that night, I didn’t something **_else_** that I normally wouldn’t do.”

“Like what?”

I took a short break to prepare myself from what I was about to say. I was still getting used to talking about this freely, so my nerves were racking up. But I did eventually calmed down and continued talking.

“I…I showed Ally my horns.”

“ **YOU DID WHAT?!?** ” Ringo shouted.

“P-Please don’t make me repeat it.”

“Sorry, it’s just…I never expected you would do such a thing.”

“Yeah, it took a bit of courage for me to do that.”

“What happened after that?”

“Well, after I showed her, I made her promise not to tell anyone. She agreed, but asked me why I told her of all people.”

“And what did you say?”

“…”

“…I-I said that I trusted her.”

“Ohhh…”

“And then later that night, Ally asked me to sleep on her futon with her, and so I did. Soon after we fell asleep, I felt something against me. I then open my eyes to see snuggling up against me.”

“And…”

“And…and I…I didn’t push her away. In fact, I got closer to her. It felt really nice and cozy. My heart was racing and my cheeks were blazing red. But after a short while, I managed to fall back asleep. It was truly the best night of my life.”

“W-Wow, Lidelle. That’s deep.”

“Yeah. And since then, I couldn’t stop thinking of her. I feel so…so…empty inside. I was hoping you could help me figure it out.”

“I see. I understand now. Let me think about it for a sec.”

“Oh…okay then. I have to go feed Poochy, anyway. I’ll be in the garden if you need me.”

“Okay then. See ya in a bit.”

I left Ringo’s room and headed for the kitchen to grab some food for Poochy. I then went out to the garden to meet up with him.

“Poochy! Time to eat!” I yelled.

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

Poochy came running towards me with excitement as I sat down on the steps in front of the door. As I watched him eat his food, I rubbed his fur(?) while putting a somewhat fake smile. Poochy noticed it and stopped eating as he starred me down.

“What?”

“ _ARF!_ ”

“I’m fine, Poochy. Nothing to worry about.”

“ ** _GRRR…_** ”

“ _sigh._ I guess there’s no fooling you, huh?”

“ _ARF! ARF ARF!_ ”

“Well, thanks for caring about me. You’re a really good…something.”

“ _ARF!_ ”

“Wow, I always forget how pretty this garden is.” I heard Ringo’s voice and turned to see her standing behind me.

“Yeah, it’s really is. I sometimes come out here and stare at them whenever I feel stressed about life.” I said.

“That sounds relaxing.” Ringo said. “So I did some thinking…over what we talked about earlier.”

“You did? Well, what do you think?”

“Well…how much do you like this Ally girl, anyway?”

“How much? Well…I like her a lot, really. Like I said before, I feel empty without her.”

“I see. Hey Lidelle, fair warning. Because what I’m about to say may blow your mind a little.”

“I’m ready for it.” I said after taking a deep breath.

Ringo took a deep breath as well and grabbed my hand with hers as she looked me in the eyes.

“Lidelle, after all thinking I did on it…it sounds like to me that…” Ringo started blushing mid-sentence.

“Sounds like what?”

“W-Well…”

“Come on, Ringo. I can handle it. Just tell me.”

Ringo took another deep breath before continuing.

“…I-It sounds like you’re in love with Ally.”

I sat there in silence, replying the words Ringo just said in my mind over and over again until it finally clicked for me.

“L-Lidelle?” Ringo asked.

“ **WH-WH-WH-WHAT?! M-M-M-ME?! IN LOVE?! W-W-W-WITH ALLY?! ARE YOU SURE?!** ” I shouted in a panicked state.

“You show all the signs of someone who’s in love. There’s no denying it.”

I calmed down and began to realize that what Ringo said was starting to make sense. The entire time I was with Ally that night, I was the happiest I could ever be. And when she went home, I was all miserable. My heart ached at night because she wasn’t next to me snuggling. All this time I was feeling sad and alone, when the answer was so obvious. But I was too miserable to notice it myself.

“Wow…I’m in love with Ally.” I finally said after a few minutes of silence from both of us.

“You feeling any better?” Ringo asked.

“Yeah. Thanks, Ringo! I feel so much better!”

“Well, glad I could help, cousin.”

“Yes! I feel so better, in fact, that I’m going to confess my love for Ally!”

“ **C-Confess?!** ”

“And during the summer festival, too!”

“ **D-During the summer festival?!** ”

“And under the starry-night sky!”

“ **Th-The starry night sky?!** ”

“What? You don’t think it’s a good idea?”

“W-Well, while I do agree that confessing your love at the summer festival under the starry night sky is the most romantic thing in the world, you just found out about your feelings. Don’t you think you should wait a little longer?”

“ _But Ringo! If I wait much longer, I’m going to be all sad again!_ ” I wined.

“ _Aw,_ geez. Don’t start whining on me now. You know I can’t resist that.”

“ _pwease?_ ” I starred at her with the most saddest I could possibly make my puppy-dog eyes look.

“ **GAH!** It’s too cute!” Ringo yelled. “Alright fine! But I’m going to help whether you like it or not!”

“Deal! Thanks, Ringo!” I said. Then I hugged her real tight while trying to not shed a tear. Despite us being the same age, Ringo’s always been like a big sibling to me. More so than my **actual** big sibling, which is ironic in some way.

_Sigh. Why couldn’t Satan be more like Ringo? I certainly would’ve liked him more if he did._

“So, what do we do first?” I asked once we broke off the hug.

“Huh? You’re asking me?” Ringo asked.

“You’re the smart one.”

“Yeah, at math. Not love.”

“Great. We haven’t even done anything and we’re already stumped.”

“Calm down will you. I could just call Ris and ask him what to do. He’s more of an expert on love than I am.”

“Sounds great!” I said happily. I then gain a random thought in my mind that’s been bugging me for a while.

“By the way, Ringo. Just what is Risukuma?” I asked.

Ringo sat there for a second trying to think of an answer.

“You know, I’m not really sure.” She said. “He says he’s a squirrel bear, but when I googled it, I found no prove of that species ever existing. I keep asking him if I could cut him open and see his insides for research, but he always refuses.”

“Ringo, I’m pretty sure any sane person would say no to that.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“ _sigh_. I guess you’re right.” She sounded disappointed.

“Hey, we got some time left before I have to go help set up the booth for the festival. Wanna play a game?”

“Sure. I’m fine with anything except The House of the Dead.”

“Seriously?! Why is everybody so afraid of that game?!”

“How are you not?”

“ _sigh._ Fine! Then what do you want to play?”

Ringo thought for a second. Between the two of us, we’ve played tons of video games, so thinking of one on the spot is kinda hard for us.

“ _Hmm…_ You still have Kirby’s Return to Dream Land?”

“Ha! Like I would ever get rid of that game! Or any Kirby game for that matter!”

“Right?! How can you when he’s **_so_** cute?!”

“I know! And it really pisses me off when people say it’s too easy.”

“Those people haven’t beaten the True Arena.”

“ _ugh_. The True Arena…” The both of us shiver in fear as we had Vietnam flashbacks of the last True Arena we did.

“Triple Deluxe’s was pure evil.” Ringo said.

“Yeah, it was.” I agreed.

“…”

“…”

“But Kirby still sucks.” I said.

“Oh, yeah of course. He totally sucks.” Ringo added.

We both started laughing at the joke we made, then went inside to play some games that involved a pink puffball.

 

We ended up playing Return to Dream Land all day, beating both the normal and extra modes, all the challenges, and both arenas. As always, the True Arena took most of our day. We kept using Hammer and Spark with every attempt, and kept failing. But when we weren’t being serious anymore and both picked Tornado, we ended up beating it on our first attempt.

“ **ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?** ” We both shouted.

Let’s just say, we were more angry than proud.

“Lidelle, sweetie.” Mother said as she came in my room. “Weren’t you supposed to go help set up the booths for the festival?”

“Yeah, I was going to go around 2:30.” I said.

“Sweetie…it’s almost 8:30.”

“Huh?” I looked at the clock on my phone to see that it really was almost 8:30 at night. 8:27pm, to be exact.

“ **WAH!** I lost track of time!”

“Woah. I can’t believe we’ve played this game all day…” Ringo said, just as shocked as me.

“Yeah, me neither. It’s been a while since I’ve done this.”

“Well, it’s okay. I’m sure they got everything done anyway.” Mother said. “Dinner’s almost ready, so you girls go on and get changed for bed.”

“Okay, Mother.”

“Okay, Auntie.”

As Mother went back to the kitchen, we turned off the game and changed into our pajamas. Then we went to the living room and sat at the table, where Poochy wasted no time in climbing on my lap and licking my face.

“Haha! Poochy! Come on, stop it! It tickles!” I begged.

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“I know you missed me, but you’re going to end up licking my face off.”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“You and Poochy really do love each other, huh?” Ringo asked.

“He’s friendly with everyone, but he shows extreme affection with me.”

“ _Gee_ , I wish I had a…whatever Poochy is.”

Then out of nowhere, Poochy stopped licking me and charged at Ringo. And was now licking her face to no end.

“Hahaha! Poochy Come on! Down boy! It really tickles!”

“ _ARF ARF ARF!_ ”

“Come on, Poochy. Time to eat.” Mother said as she entered the room. Poochy then jumped off of Ringo and sat next to me waiting patiently for his food.

“You okay, Ringo?” I asked as I pulled her up.

“Yeah, I’m fine. You were right, though. Poochy licking your face really does tickle.” She said.

We all ate dinner and then afterwards we went back to my room to talk about what to do tomorrow.

“So I asked Ris for any advice on how to confess your love for some.” Ringo said. “It took me a while to convince him that it’s not me, but once that was settled he sent me this text with tips on how to do it.”

“I see. What did he say?” I asked.

“He said all you need to do is do these 3 things:

  * Spend the entire day with this person, just the two of you.
  * Don’t give any hints of your feelings towards this person, that includes blushing.
  * When the time comes, take them to a secluded spot and tell that person how you truly feel. And don’t rush the response out of that person.



He also left a fourth thing, but…I told him it wasn’t… _necessary_.”

“What was it?”

“W-Well…you know…”

“…”

“…O-Oh. Y-Yeah, I-I get it.” We both had light blushes on our cheeks.

“A-Anyway, aside from the one, these tips should help you confess to Ally tomorrow.” Ringo said.

“You really think so?” I asked.

“Positive. But in order for them to work, you know what you have to do.”

“Do what?”

“You know, silly. Text Ally and ask if she wants to go the festival with you.”

“H-Huh?! D-Do I really have to do that?!”

“Do you want this to work or not?”

“…Yeah, I do.” I said silently. “Pass me my phone.”

Ringo handed over my cell phone and I scrolled through my contacts to find Ally’s number. Once I did, I opened the messaging app and texted her a message.

_Hey, Ally. Want to go to the summer festival with me?_

Once done I hit the sent button.

“Alright, I sent it.” I said.

“Great! Now we just wait for a response.” Ringo said.

It didn’t even pass 10 seconds before the phone chimed letting us know that we got a message.

_Sure! I’ll go with you, Lidelle! Can’t wait!_

I froze in shock when I read the response.

“Well? What did she say?” Ringo asked.

“S-S-She said yes. She said yes! **OMG** , **SHE SAID YES!** ”

“Alright, alright. Calm down, will ya? I’ll send you the list so you can memorize it for tomorrow. Just follow these and your confession will go perfectly.”

“Thanks, Ringo! You’re the best!”

“ _Aw_ , you’re welcome, Lidelle. I’m just glad I could come visit you again. Today was so much fun.”

“Yeah. It was.”

“Well, I’m gonna call it a day. Goodnight, Lidelle.”

“Oh right. Goodnight, Ringo.”

Ringo left my room and I was left alone. I couldn’t stop starring at the message on my phone. The fact that Ally wants to go with me made my heart flutter like crazy. I was so happy. I wanted tomorrow to come already, because I felt like it was going to be the best night of my life!

 

 **CONTINUED IN PART 2**    


	12. Daylight Confession

**_Still Lidelle’s POV_ **

 

It was the next morning and I was woken up the same way I was yesterday: with Poochy barking in my ear.

“ _ugh. Poochy…just five more minutes, please…”_

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“ ** _*moan*_** _Okay, Poochy. I’m up._ ”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

_Geez, I’m starting to sound like Melody._

I got out of bed and freshened myself up for the day. It was my normal morning routine again so I was the first one up. I had to do my usual shrine maiden duties and the first thing to do was check on the festival area, which was near the shrine, so I’ll be knocking two things down at once. When I got to the festival area, I had to make sure everything was up to code. Meaning checking the booths to see if they were set up properly, no damage to anything, the common stuff. Once that was done, I headed for the shrine to do the work I normally do. As I reached the steps, however, I heard some kind of noise coming from the top. I climbed up the stairs and saw that someone was ringing the bell that was over the well. That spot is usually for people making an offering to the gods and asking for a wish of theirs to come true. I’ve never seen anyone do it this early, though, so it got me a little paranoid, thinking that someone was trying to steal the money that was there. But as I got closer to the well, I recognized who it was. It eased up my paranoia, but…

“A-Ally?!”

“L-Lidelle?!”

…Now my heart was racing.

“Wh-What are you doing here, Lidelle?” Ally asked.

“W-Well…I…I come here every morning to do maintenance work.” I said nervously. “Wh-What are you doing here? I didn’t think you’d be up this early.”

“O-Oh…w-well…y-y’know…uhhhh…” Ally was stuttering constantly with her cheeks blushing as red as a tomato. Seeing her stutter like that was so cute that I started blushing a little. But I knew I had to calm down. Like the list said, I can’t show any hints of my love towards Ally. Not until tonight, that is.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I don’t you to feel uncomfortable or anything.” I said.

“Th-thanks, Lidelle.” Ally said after calming down a little. “You’re a really good friend.”

 _Friend, huh? Is that how she she’s sees me as?_ I started feeling a little sad after hearing that last sentence, but quickly nulled out the emotion.

“Y-You’re welcome.” I said. “H-Hey, I was going to do a few things here and then go home to cook breakfast. D-Do you want to…y’know…come over?”

Ally started blushing again but this time she slapped her cheeks while shaking her head, trying to ease up the blushing.

“Sure! I’m pretty hungry anyway. Plus, your cooking is amazing.” She said.

“ **YAY!** Uh, I mean, sounds great.” I had to calm down a bit from the response. “It’ll take a few minutes, though. You mind waiting a bit?”

“Sure, I got time. I’ll just wait by the steps.”

“Okay then. See ya in a bit.”

As Ally went pass me, my heart beated faster than it did before. I almost wanted to just grab her hand and confess right then and there, but I had to deflect my urges a little longer. Until tonight comes along, this is going to be pure hell.

 

**Ally’s POV**

 

“ **DAMN IT! WHY THE HELL DID I SAY THAT?! WHY, WHY, WHY?!** ”

I was beating myself against a nearby tree at the bottom of the steps while waiting for Lidelle to finish her shrine maiden duties. It was basically self-punishment for what I said when Lidelle said I didn’t have to tell her why I was here so early.

“Friend… **FRIEND!** I can’t believe I was idiotic enough to say that! Now Lidelle will never give into the thought that I love her! My one chance and I blew it! Maybe I starting to become like Harpy: an airhead!”

I continued to bang my head on the tree, hoping it would be a good enough punishment for my stupidity, when…

“Hey!”

I heard a voice calling out to me…well, at least I think I did. I banged my head so much that I was starting to get dizzy.

“Hey, you there! With the orange hair!”

“Huh? What?”

That voice was the one of a girl. She was taller than me by like a few inches, and she had long blue hair. Her clothes made me think that she was some kind of royalty or something, with a blue and white mini-dress type thing with some kind of jacket or robe over it, which was mostly white, with blue on the bottom and a light purple on the inside. She had a bunch of gold jewelry on her, with earrings, some on her arms and some on her legs. Her shoes wear just sandals, although I’ve never seen ones that looked like hers. Also in her right hand was a red fan. Not sure why she had one when the sun wasn’t out yet, but who am I to judge?

“Hey, I wouldn’t bang my head on that tree if I were you.” The girl said. “It’s bark is said to be really sharp.”

“Huh?” I rubbed my forehead a little and looked at my fingers to see that they were covered in blood.

“Aw, crap!” I yelled, panicking over the massive blood coming from my forehead.

“Hold on, keep still.” The girl said as she pulled out a rag from her pocket and placed it over my forehead. All of a sudden, the cut that was there started to disappear, and when the rag was removed, there was no trace of blood on it. I was amazed, and a little creeped out.

“Wh-What just happened?! H-How did you do that?!” I asked.

“This is a magical rag that heals all cuts and bruises to the point where they never happened.” The girl explained.

“Wow, that’s so cool! So you know magic?”

The girl went silent for a bit.

“Well…actually I...no. No I don’t.”

“Then how did that rag work?”

“Truth is, I stole this from a guy I used to know. He was a total jerk so I took this without him noticing.”

“Oh, I get it. Nothing like sweet revenge to get even with the douchebag, right?”

“ ** _Ohhoho!_** I like the way you think! Did you get revenge on someone?”

“Once, but it was a long time ago. Jerk wad had it coming.”

“What he do?”

“Guy was a total prick and was bullying me when I was younger. So one day, I filled his locker with pictures that I took of girls changing. When he opened his locker and all the pictures fell out, everybody was disgusted by him, and he even got expelled from school. It was one of the best moments of my life!”

The girl begun laughing at my story.

“Oh my god, that’s so hilarious!” She said. “Such an innocent child at first glance, but then turns into a devious soul when pissed off. I wish there were more people like you.”

“Gee, thanks! That really made me feel better, miss…”

“Oh, please. Just call me Rulue.”

“Rulue, huh? Nice name.”

“Thanks. I normally go by Fighting Queen, Rulue-sama, but only a few people get to call me Rulue.”

“I got to admit, that name sounds badass.”

“ ** _Ohhoho!_** Right? I’m glad someone understands. What’s yours?”

“Mine’s Ally. No badass title following it, though. It’s as basic as you can get.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad. I’ve definitely heard worse.”

“Really, like what?”

“Well, just be glad you weren’t named Fufufu, or Momomo, or Parara.”

“Ouch. Those names suck.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

We both laugh it off, feeling sorry for the poor saps who got stuck with those names.

“Okay, now that we got introductions out the way, be real with me. Why were you banging your head against the tree?” Rulue asked.

“H-Huh?! Y-You really want to know?! I-I mean, w-we just met!” I stuttered.

“Yeah, but you normally don’t run into someone whose banging their head against a sharp tree.”

“…”

“…Y-Yeah, true.”

“So, come on. Spit it out already.”

“Okay, okay.” I said. Then I took a huge breath before I explained everything.

“W-Well, it started a few days ago. I stayed at my friend’s house overnight and…well…things happened.”

“ _Things_ things?” Rulue asked.

“No, just things. I don’t think I’m ready yet for _things_ things.”

“Understandable.”

“Anyway, after that I started feeling weird. And after talking with someone, I realized that I’m in love with that friend.”

“I see. Whatever you and this guy did that night must’ve really changed your life, huh?”

“My friend is a girl.”

“R-Really?!” Rulue was blushing a little.

“What’s with _that_ reaction? You don’t have anything against lesbians, do you?”

“Of course not! It’s just you would think the first thing you would describe about your friend is what gender, right?”

“…Yeah, I guess that is important information.”

“You think?”

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted.” Rulue said with a smug.

“Anyway, I want to tell her that I love her, but I have no idea how. I recently had a chance and I blew it. And that’s when you showed up.”

“I see. Well, unfortunately I can’t really help you much. As I’m not having much luck with love myself.”

“Let me guess…it’s with that douchebag you mentioned earlier?”

“The same one. I’ve fallen in love with that guy around the time I was graduating high school. Once I did, I followed him into this strange world with barely anything in it. I was there for years, trying to get him to accept my love for him. But he kept pushing me away, claiming that he loves someone else. And you want to know the insane part? The girl he loves doesn’t even like him, yet he’s too damn clueless to notice it!”

I noticed Rulue was getting angrier, squeezing her fan like it was a sponge, while I also noticed she was holding back tears in her eyes. I can tell that she’s been through hell these last couple of years. It made me rethink the problems I was having with confessing my love for Lidelle.

“I’m sorry, Ally. I made this about me when you’re the one asking for help.” Rulue said.

“It’s okay, Rulue. Really, it is.” I said. “I did learn something from all that.”

“Really? What’s that?”

“Boys are idiots!”

“ ** _Ohhoho!_** You got that right!”

And again, we laughed it off like it was nothing.

“Hey, Ally!” I heard Lidelle’s voice coming from the steps behind me and sure enough, she was coming down the stairs to meet up with me.

“Sorry I took so long. With the festival being tonight, I had to do extra work, y’know?”

“Yeah, I get it. You had to do what you had to do.” I said.

“So, whose your friend?”

“Oh, right. Lidelle, this here is the Fighting Queen, Rulue-sama!”

“W-Wow…th-that’s some name…”

“You can just call me Rulue.” Rulue said.

“Okay, then. It’s nice to meet you, Rulue. My name’s Lidelle.”

“Lidelle, huh? I guess everyone here has basic names, huh Ally?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” I said.

“Basic?”

“Oh, don’t worry, Lidelle. It’s not an insult to your name or anything. It’s just a joke I made about mine.”

“Oh, I see.” I think Lidelle doesn’t really get it, but she didn’t ask any more of it, so I guess she really didn’t care.

“Anyway, I’m all done here. Let’s go to my house so I can make breakfast.” Lidelle said.

“Sounds good to me!” I said cheerfully.

“You can come too if you want, Rulue.”

“Really? I won’t be intruding?”

“Not at all. With more people there, I can make an excuse to Mother for me making more food!”

“She loves eating. And so do I.” I explained to Rulue.

“I see. Well, if you insist, I’ll tag along.” Rulue said.

“Great. My house isn’t that far from here. It’s only a few minutes.”

“Alright! Let’s get intimate!” I yelled out, then immediately covered my mouth. Lidelle started laughing almost instantly.

“Say what now?” Rulue was confused by what I just said, and was also blushing a little.

“Th-That’s just something I spill out at random! I-It doesn’t mean what you think it means, I swear!”

“Okay…I guess.”

“Let’s just go already! I’m starving!”

“Alright, alright.” Lidelle said.

As we were walking down the block Rulue whispered something into my ear.

“So I’m guessing that’s the girl you were talking about?” She asked.

“Y-Yeah. Th-That’s her.” I said while emulating a faint blush on my cheeks. “That’s the love of my life.”

“I see. Well, I’ll admit, you sure know how to pick them.”

“H-Hey!”

“Don’t worry. I don’t swing that way. You don’t have to worry about stealing her away from you or anything.”

“Oh. Well, good then.”

“Hey, are you guys coming or what?” Lidelle asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah! Coming, Lidelle!” I said as I ran up her. Rulue continued her normal pace as she walked behind us. Not sure if she’s doing this on purpose or not, but if she is…

_Thanks, Rulue. You’re a huge help._

 

**Lidelle’s POV**

 

_I don’t know why, but when I found out that Ally was talking to this Rulue girl, I felt an extreme level of jealousy. Like I said, I don’t know why. Rulue looks like she’s around Melody’s age, so even if she did swung that way (I’m not too sure if she does), she wouldn’t even try to go for Ally. Then again, Ally’s standing next to me and Rulue’s walking slowly behind us. Could it be? Does she know about my feelings for Ally? If so, how did she figure it out?_

“Hey, Lidelle. You okay? You were spacing out just now.” Ally said to me.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine.” I said. “I was just thinking of…stuff.”

“What stuff?”

“U-Uh…w-well…” I couldn’t tell Ally that I was thinking of her. It would break the rules I’m supposed to be following. I had to think of something and fast.

“…J-Just thinking of to make for breakfast! Yeah, that’s it!”

“O-Oh. Okay then. Can’t wait.” Ally said with a depressed tone.

_Why did she sound sad when she said that? Was she hoping I was thinking of something else?_

As I was having that thought, we were coming up to my house. Me and Ally got closer to front door while Rulue stood near the street starring at the house from afar.

“Hey, Rulue, you okay?” Ally asked.

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine.” Rulue answered. “It’s just…this house looks strangely familiar to me.”

“It does?” I asked. “Do you know why?”

“I…can’t remember all too well. Maybe if I go inside, I’ll get a better grasp of it.”

“Okay, then. Front door’s this way.”

As I opened the door, the first thing that came into view was Poochy tackling me down to the floor, licking my face like usual.

“P-Poochy! C-Calm down! I missed you too, just stop licking me!”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

Poochy jump off me and got up off the floor. As I did so, Ringo came up to the front door.

“Morning, Lidelle.”

“Morning, Ringo.”

“Who are your friends?”

“Well…”

I took Ringo to the side and begun whispering to her.

“The girl with orange hair is Ally.” I said.

“Really?” Ringo looked at Ally for a second and then looked back at me.

“I’ve got to admit, she really is cute. I would go after her myself if I swung that way.”

“I thought you were bisexual.”

“I am, but I mostly go after boys. I still go for girls every once in a while, though.”

“I see.”

“And the other girl?”

“Her name’s Rulue. We met her at the shrine and I invited her for breakfast.”

“I see. Does Auntie know?”

“Do I know what?” Suddenly, Mother came up to us still half asleep.

“Morning, Mother.”

“Morning, Auntie.”

“Morning girls. What were we talking about again?”

“Well, I brought Ally and a friend over for breakfast. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind. Ally’s always welcome here. But whose this _friend_ you’re talking about?”

“Well, we met her at the shrine. She just showed up talking to Ally when I finished my work.”

“Huh. Weird. I’ll just go meet this other guest then.”

Mother went passed us towards the front door and we followed her there.

“Hello there, Ally. Nice to see you again.”

“Uh, g-good morning…Yumi. Nice to see you again.” Ally said nervously.

“Wait…Yumi?” Rulue suddenly said out loud.

Mother took a good look at Rulue and soon gave out a smile.

“Oh my! Rulue-senpai! It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?”

“Rulue-senpai?” Me, Ally, and Ringo asked.

“Mother, do you and Rulue know each other?”

“Yes, actually. Me and Rulue-senpai went to the same school.”

“Wait, really?!”

“Yep. When Rulue-senpai graduated, she disappeared while following this guy that she fell in love with. This is the first time I’ve seen her since then.”

“Same here. Never thought I would see you again, Yumi.” Rulue said. “I didn’t think you leave Suzuran after graduating, considering how much you loved it there.”

“Wait, Suzuran? What school did you two go to?” Ally asked.

“Oh, we went to Suzuran Senior High.”

“No way! Really?!” Me and Ally shouted.

“Why is that shocking news?”

“Yumi, did you and Rulue know two other girls who were named Harmony and Melody?”

“Huh? You mean Harmony-senpai and Melody-senpai? Yeah, I knew them.” Mother said.

“Harmony and Melody? Geez, I haven’t heard those names in a long time!” Rulue said.

“Well, those two said they went to Suzuran Senior High.” I said.

“Yeah, we were all friends there.” Mother claimed.

“No way!”

“Yeah, they graduated the same year I did. But I haven’t seen them since.” Rulue said.

“Well, Harmony was our teacher for the last 10 years. She went by Ms. Accord.” I said.

“And I live with Melody and her daughter, who’s my best friend.” Ally added.

“Really now? Small world.”

“Hey, how about after breakfast I take you guys over to Melody’s house?”

“You would really do that, Ally?” Mother asked.

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Then how about we go now?”

“H-Huh?!”

“Great idea, Yumi. I bet Melody will be surprised to see us.” Rulue said.

“Right? Just let me change into a new kimono then we’ll leave.”

“W-Wait a sec…” I said, but was ignored.

“Still refusing to wear anything but kimonos huh?”

“You know me, Rulue-senpai. Other clothes are so uncomfortable. It was bad enough that I had to wear that school uniform.”

“ ** _Ohhoho!_** You still haven’t changed, Yumi. Even after all these years.”

The rest of us stood there watching the whole conversation with Mother and Rulue. Sure, I was happy for Mother for reuniting with her old classmate after so many years, but at the same time, I was kinda sad that I wasn’t going to cook breakfast for Ally. I was really looking forward to eating with her and possibly making our friendship strong enough for tonight.

_So much for that._

“I’m just gonna feed Poochy real quick.” I said. “I’ll meet you guys out front.”

“Alright, sweetie.” Mother said to me.

I went outside to the garden and closed the door behind me, then I proceeded to call out Poochy’s name.

“Poochy!”

No response.

“Poochy! Breakfast!”

Still nothing.

“ _sigh_. Great, now that I want him to show his excessive affection, he doesn’t show up. Just my luck.”

I sat down on the porch feeling depressed on how this plan of mine was already failing. This was the first time I’ve ever fallen in love with someone and I just wanted it to go right, but so far…that isn’t happening. I was about to just straight up cry right then and there, when I heard the door open and I turned around to see who it was.

“H-Hey, Lidelle.”

“A-Ally? What’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing’s wrong. I…I-I just wanted to apologize.”

“For what? You did nothing wrong. What happened with Mother and Rulue was just pure coincidence. We didn’t know they knew each other.”

“Yeah, but now we’re going over to Ami’s house instead of eating food that you cooked. I really wanted to eat some of your food.”

When Ally said that, I started blushing and my heart began beating faster. She really wanted to eat with me. Does that mean she really like my cooking? Or is it something else entirely?

I was about to reply to that statement when the door opened again and out came Ringo.

“Hey, Lidelle. You feeling okay?” She asked as she closed and locked the door behind her.

“It could be better, Ringo. It could be better.”

“Hey, Lidelle. Who’s this?” Ally asked.

“Oh, right. This is my cousin, Ringo. She’s staying here for the summer.”

“Oh, I see. Nice to meet you, Ringo. My name’s Ally.”

“Nice to meet you, Ally. Lidelle’s told me about you.”

“R-Really? L-Like what?” Ally began stuttering.

“She told me how you two had so much fun during your sleepover. She sounded really happy when telling me too.”

“S-She did?!”

_R-Ringo! What are you doing?!_

“Yeah. It sounded to me that she really enjoyed your time together.”

“L-Lidelle? I-Is that true?” Ally asked me.

“Of course it is! I really enjoyed you being there! In fact, when you went home the next day, I was miserable!” I shouted.

“Me too! I didn’t want to leave, but I really didn’t have a choice! Y’know, with my stuff being there and all.”

“Yeah, true.”

We then starred into each other’s eyes for what felt like hours. My heart was racing, my face was red, and I was sweaty all over my body. The fact that Ally was starring into my eyes and I was starring into hers, her beautiful emerald green eyes, I was losing it! I felt like I was going insane! I knew I had to do it! Right here, right now!

“ **I’M SORRY, RINGO! I CAN’T DO IT! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE! KEEPING IT INSIDE IS EATING MY HEART AWAY! I HAVE TO TELL HER!** ” I shouted.

“H-Huh?! T-Tell me what?!” Ally said while being caught off guard by my sudden outburst.

I grabbed hold of Ally’s hands and looked her in her eyes again. I then took a huge breath before saying the words that would either make my life a blissful heaven, or an eternal hell.

“ **ALLY…I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART! PLEASE! PLEASE BE WITH ME FOREVER! PLEASE BE MINE!** ”

I began looking down, catching my breath as I waited for a response. When I looked up again, I saw that Ally was in full tears. I was starting to feel awful. I suddenly told one of my friends that I loved her right out of the blue without any sort of warning. I bet she hates me now.

“A-Ally…Ally, I’m so-

I was in the middle of apologizing to her when Ally just straight up kissed me on the lips out of nowhere.

_Th-This is it…my first kiss! It feels so good! I never want this to end! But…why is she kissing me when she looks upset? OH NO! THIS IS A PITTY KISS, ISN’T IT?!_

When Ally pulled away from me, she had a huge smile on her face and tears were still running down her face. She also grabbed my hands and held them tighter than when I was holding hers.

“ **LIDELLE…I LOVE YOU, TOO! I WANTED TO CONFESS DAYS AGO, BUT WAS TOO SCARED TO DO IT! I’M SO HAPPY YOU LOVE ME, TOO! I WANT TO BE WITH YOU FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!** ”

When I heard that, I began crying as well. Not only does Ally love me, but she was also trying to confess, too. I’ve never felt so happy in my life! I’ve finally found my true love! And we’ll be within each other’s hearts forever!

“ **ALLY!** ”

“ **LIDELLE!** ”

We both hugged each other before sharing another kiss on each other’s lips. Ringo watched over us, clapping her hands while trying to hold in her tears. I was immerse in confessing to Ally that I forgot she was there.

_Why was she there?_

“Congratulations, you two!” Ringo cheered as she unlocked the door.

“Did it work?” Mother said as she opened the door.

“Yep. They just confessed.” Ringo said to her.

“ ** _Ohhoho!_** I honestly didn’t think that plan of yours would even work! You really are a diabolical genius, Ringo.” Rulue came out right behind Mother.

“Thanks, Rulue! That’s nice of you to say.” Ringo was rubbing the back of her head in self-accomplishment.

Me and Ally had no idea what they were talking about and were pretty much extremely confused.

“Guys, what are you talking about?” I asked.

“Yeah, what’s this _plan_ you keep mentioning?” Ally asked.

Mother giggled a bit before giving out an answer.

“Well, you see sweetie…I knew about your feelings for Ally.”

“ **Y-Y-Y-YOU DID?!?** ” I shouted.

“Yep. And Ally, I knew about your feelings for my daughter.”

“ **B-B-B-BUT HOW?!?** ” Ally shouted.

“When I passed by your room during that sleepover and saw you two cuddling each other on the bed, I knew it was obvious.”

_M-Mother…saw us?!_

“But then the problem was to get you two confess. I wasn’t going to be much help, so I brought in allies.”

“Huh?! So does that mean this was the only reason you came here, Ringo?” I asked her.

“Well, not the _only_ reason. I’m still here for the summer, I was just helping Auntie out.”

“I see. Well that’s good.”

“But then what about you, Rulue?” Ally asked.

“Yumi and I really are old classmates from high school, and I really do know Harmony and Melody. It’s just that I’ve somehow came back here from this other world where that douchebag lives. I ran into Yumi days ago and she told me all about it.” Rulue explained.

“Woah. So you were brought into this at the last minute, were you?”

“Yep, pretty much.”

 “ _ARF ARF!_ ”

We then heard Poochy barking and then saw him running towards us in excitement. Wasn’t sure if he was happy because me and Ally got together, or that’s just him whenever he’s a dog. Either way, it didn’t really matter.

“Poochy, were you in on this, too?” I asked.

 “ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“So that’s why you didn’t show up for food.”

  “ _ARF!_ ”

“ ***giggle*** Thanks, Poochy. You’re a really good…whatever you are.”

“Huh? You mean you can’t tell that he’s a lost soul?” Rulue asked.

“A what?” The rest of us said in confusion.

“A lost soul. When a living being dies, there’s a rare chance that they’ll forget everything about their past life. If that happens, they gain the ability to shapeshift and use it to figure out who or what they were before they died. But they never do, and spend their afterlives being everything but their true self.”

“W-Wow. Th-That’s…depressing.” Ringo said.

We all looked at Poochy, who looked back at us with a look of confusion.

“P-Poochy…” I said.

“ _ARF?_ ”

“You don’t have to worry, though. It looks like he doesn’t seem to care what his past life was.”

“Well…okay, if you say so.”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“Now with that out of the way, how’s about we eat something now?” Mother said.

“But, Mother. I still have to cook.”

“No you don’t. We got donuts and kolaches in the kitchen.” Ringo said. “I got them while you were out.”

“Really? Sounds good to me. Ready to eat, Ally?”

“Sure am! Let’s go!” Ally cheered.

“What, no _Let’s get intimate_ this time?”

“Geez, it hasn’t even been 10 minutes since we became a couple and you’re already teasing me.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Nah, don’t be. I already love it!”

After quick laugh, we held each other’s hand and walked inside the house, getting ready to eat our first breakfast together as a couple.


	13. The Summer Festival

**Ally’s POV**

 

That night, Lidelle, Ringo, and I changed into our kimonos and headed for the summer festival. Lidelle and I were walking with our hands held together as we can without injuring each other, while Ringo walked along beside us.

“ _Aw_ , look at the two love birds just strolling along without a care in the world. It’s so sweet.” Ringo said.

“Knock it off, Ringo.” Lidelle said.

“Oh, come on, Lidelle. I’m only kidding. I’m really happy for you two, being in love with each other and being a couple…I’m actually a little jealous.”

“Jealous? Of us?” I asked.

“Yeah. I kinda wish I had someone to love.”

“Well, you would’ve had someone by now if you would just stick with one person.” Lidelle said to her.

“Stick with one person?” I asked.

“Ringo’s bisexual.”

“Oh.”

“Hey, I can’t help it if the person I’m with is boring. I want someone who excites me. Is that too much to ask?” Ringo said.

“Then why don’t you just go out with Maguro already?” Lidelle asked.

“No way! Maguro’s off-limits! I don’t want to ruin our friendship.”

“Who’s Maguro?” I asked.

“My best friend since childhood. I’m with him a lot, I **refuse** to date him. We’re better off just being friends.”

“Don’t worry, Ringo. I get where you’re coming from.”

“You do? How?” Lidelle asked me.

“Well…promise you won’t get mad?”

“Silly. Why would I get mad? I love you.”

I blushed a little when she said that.

“Alright. Well, at one point…I did had a crush on Ami.”

“H-Huh?! Really?!”

“You said you wouldn’t get mad.”

“I’m not mad, just shocked.”

“And Ami is…” Ringo said.

“My best friend who I’m living with. We’ve known each other since childhood. Much like you and Maguro.”

“Oh. I see.”

“So, how long did this crush last?” Lidelle asked.

“I swear, it was only a phase. It went away after a month or so.”

“Oh. Okay, good.”

“Wait, were you jealous?”

“What will happen if I was?”

“Depends if you’re being honest or not.”

“Well then, yes, I was jealous. Now what?”

I giggled a bit, then kissed Lidelle on the lips for like a good minute before parting away from her.

“That’s what happens when you get jealous.” I said with a smile.

“You’re a weirdo, you know that?”

“Yes, but I’m your weirdo now.”

“So damn cute.” Ringo said.

All three of us laughed as we continued our walk to the festival.

 

“Woah! Look at this place! It’s so lively!”

“I have to admit, Lidelle. Primp really knows how to throw a festival.”

“I know, right? We always go all-out when it comes to these types of things.”

We arrived at the festival and were amazed at what we saw. Lights all over the place, booths lined up the ally way, tons of people waking around, playing games, eating food, or just having fun. It was an awesome sight.

“So, what are we doing first?” I asked eagerly.

“Well, we’re supposed to wait for the others to show up. Once they do, we’ll find something to do.”

“ _Aw!_ How long is that gonna take?”

“I don’t know. I can’t magically bring them here.”

“Hey! Lidelle! Ally!”

We heard Ami’s voice and sure enough, there she was with Raffina, Melody, Raffina’s sister Amira, and a fourth woman who’ve I’ve never seen before.

“Hey, guys. You all look nice.” Lidelle said.

“Thanks, you do too.” Raffina replied.

“Geez, Ally! Why didn’t you call or text me that you were with Lidelle all day?! I was worried, y’know?!” Ami said to me.

“Sorry, Ami.” I said. “I was kinda busy with something.”

“Huh? Like what?”

“Well…” I rolled my eyes downward to the ground.

Ami followed my eyes to where they were looking at. It took her a while to notice where they were pointing at, but she did…

“ **OH…MY…GOD!** You didn’t! Are you two for real?!”

“Yep, Ami! We’re for real! Me and Lidelle are officially a couple!”

“Holy crap!” Raffina said, sounding just as shocked. “I knew there was something going on with you two, but I didn’t think it would lead to this!”

“Alright, Mel!” Amira shouted. “You know what this means, right?”

“Sure do, Amira!” Melody replied.

“ **MORE LESBOS TO TEASE!!!** ” They both yelled out.

“Mom!” Ami shouted.

“Amira!” Raffina also shouted.

“Melody-senpai, Miss Amira…there is **_truly_** something wrong with you two.” The other woman said in a disdained tone.

“I seriously agree with you, Lily.” Raffina said.

“ _Hey!”_

“ _Hey!”_

“Lily?” All three of us asked.

“Oh, right. This is our maid, Lily. She’s been the one taking care of me and Amira.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all.” Lily said with a bow. “I’m glad to see that Miss Raffina has so many friends now.”

“Geez, Lily. You’re making it sound like I had no friends.”

“Well, that’s because three months ago you really did had no friends.” Amira claimed.

“Amira!”

“What? It’s true.”

“Alright. Settle down, you two.”

“Yes, Lily.” Both sisters said.

“So, guys, whose your friend?” Ami asked.

“This is my cousin, Ringo.” Lidelle answered. “She’s visiting here for the summer.”

“Your cousin? You mean the one who lives in Suzuran?”

“Yep, that’s me. Nice to meet you.” Ringo said.

“Hiya, Ringo. My name’s Amitie. This here’s my mom, Melody. She can be a handful sometimes.”

“Hey!” Melody yelled. “There’s no way that’s true!”

“It’s 100% true.” Ami, Raffina, Lidelle, and Lily retorted.

“ **Hmph.** Whatever.”

“Anyway, this girl next me is my girlfriend, Raffina.” Ami continued.

“Nice to meet you, Ringo.” Raffina said.

“Your girlfriend? Wow, so like is every girl here a lesbian?” Ringo asked.

“I’m not.” Melody said.

“I’m straight.” Amira replied.

“Ditto.” Lily added.

_Huh. Did the lesbian gene skip a generation?_

As I was having that thought, another one came to mind.

“Hey, Lily. Didn’t you just call Melody senpai?” I asked her.

“Yes, it’s an old habit of mine.” Lily said while blushing of embarrassment. “Me and her went to high school together.”

“Wow.”

“Why are you bringing this up now, Ally?” Ami asked.

Lidelle and I looked at each other with smiles then looked back at the others.

“Well…” As we were about to explain, we heard someone call our names.

“Hey, Lidelle! Ally!”

“Over here, Mother!” Lidelle said.

“Mother? Lidelle, you brought your mom?” Raffina asked.

“Yeah. Me and her come here every year. It’s like a family tradition.”

“Aw, how sweet.”

“There you two are. Sorry we’re late. We kinda got lost a little.” Yumi said as she and Rulue walked up to us. And as we expected, Melody and Lily had looks of complete shock on their faces.

“N-No way! Yumi?! Rulue?!” Melody yelled.

“Y-Yumi?! R-Rulue-senpai?!” Lily shouted.

“Well, it’s been a while hasn’t it, Melody-senpai and Lily? Yumi said.

“ ** _Ohhoho!_** Long time no see, you two. It really has been a while.” Rulue added.

As the four friends reunited each other with hugs, Ami, Raffina, and Amira were confused on what was happening.

“Well, you see guys, my mom and her friend Rulue also went to school with Melody, Ms. Accord, and Lily.” Lidelle explained.

“They were all friends there, too.” I added.

“ **SERIOUSLY?!** ” The other three yelled.

“Yeah, we were shocked too.”

“Oh man! This is just great! I never thought I would see any of you guys again! I’ve got to tell Harmony this!” Melody said as she pulled out her phone.

“Put her on speaker, Mel! I want to talk to her, too!” Rulue said.

“Alright!”

Melody dialed the number and put the phone on speaker. After a few rings, someone finally picked up.

“ _Hello?_ ”

“Hey, Harm! Where are you? You’re missing all the fun!” Melody said.

“ _Geez, Melody! I can’t believe you made come here wearing this thing! It’s so embarrassing!_ ”

“Aw come on, Harm! You even said you liked it!”

“ _That’s because I didn’t think I was going to the summer festival!_ ”

“ _You’re overreacting, meow. You look fine._ ”

“See? Popoi agrees with me!”

“ _B-But…_ ”

“Just get down here, Harmony-senpai!” Lily said.

“I want to see you in your cute kimono, Harmony-senpai.” Yumi added.

“Quit being shy and just live a little for once, Harmony!” Rulue said.

“ _Wait! What were those voices?_ ”

“You’re just gonna have show up to find out, Harm!” Melody teased.

“ _H-Hey, wait! Mel-_

Melody hanged up the phone and grew a smile on her face.

“You think that will get her to come?” Yumi asked.

“Trust me, once Harmony’s curiosity is triggered, she won’t stop until she finds out what it is. She’ll be here.” Melody replied.

“So, who’s Harmony?” Ringo asked.

“Our old teacher, Ms. Accord. We found out her first name during our last day of school.” I said.

“Oh, wow.”

“Hey, guys! Sorry we’re late!” A voice said.

We turned around to see Arle, Schezo, Harpy, Sig, and a little girl walking towards us. I noticed Rulue gaining not only a surprised look on her face, but also somewhat of an annoyed one.

“What the…Arle? Schezo? Harpy? What are **_you_** three doing here?” She asked.

“Rulue?! You’re here too?!” Arle said in a shocked voice.

“Woah! Rulue’s here! So exciting!” Harpy said.

“So much for peace and quiet…” Schezo whispered.

“ **What was that, Schezo?!** ” Rulue shouted while gesturing a fist with her hand.

“ _sigh_. It’s nice to see you again, Rulue.”

“ **Hmph!** That’s what I thought you said.”

“Rulue, you and Arle know each other?” Melody asked.

“Yeah, we do. It’s a long story, though. And I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I see. Well then I won’t force ya.”

“Rulue, how do you and Melody know each other?” Arle asked.

“Well, if you must know, me and Melody were friends in high school, Along with these two.”

“Woah, you went to high school? Lucky! I wish I went there instead of doing all that crap with Sa-

“ **PLEASE** don’t say that name! I don’t want to hear it ever again.”

“You and me both.” Now it was Arle who had the annoyed look on her face.

“Rulue, how did you get here, anyway?” Schezo asked.

“How am I suppose to know? I was in the forest boiling in anger because of _you-know-who_ , when out of nowhere a lightning bolt struck me and knocked me out. Then I woke up her and after walking a few miles, I ran into Yumi.”

“So you were in that other world this whole time, Rulue-senpai?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Rulue said. “I never though I would be able to come back to this world. Glad I did, though.”

“We are too, Rulue.” Melody said.

 

We decided to walk around the festival, with the adults in the back and us out in front. While walking, we were talking about…actually, I had no idea what we were talking about. I spaced out at one point because I was holding Lidelle’s hand…and it felt so warm. It was like I was holding a freshly made cup of hot chocolate while sitting next to a warm fireplace. I think I might die from this blissful feeling eventually.

“ _Ally…_ ”

“ _Ally…_ ”

“ALLY!”

“Huh?” I came back into reality to see Harpy floating in front of me.

“Oh, hey Harpy! What’s up?” I asked.

“Ally, you’re not sad anymore, right?”

“I’m feeling much better now, Harpy. Sorry for making you worry.”

“It’s okay! As long as you’re happy, I’m happy!”

“That’s great to hear, Harpy.” I said with a smile.

“By the way, I’ve been meaning to asked you something.”

“Really? Ask me what?”

“What’s sex?”

All of a sudden, our group just stopped with some of us beginning to panic.

“Oh, that? It’s when you…”

“ **ALLY!!!** ” Ami yelled at me.

“It’s when you…”

“ **SCHEZO!!!** ” Arle yelled at him.

“It’s when you…”

“ **AMIRA!!!** ” Raffina yelled at her.

“It’s when you…”

“ **MELODY-SENPAI!!!** ” Lily yelled at her.

“What’s the big deal, Ami? She’s gonna have to know eventually.” I said.

“ **NO SHE DOESN’T!!!** ” The other girls (including Lidelle, excluding Yumi and Rulue) yelled back.

“ ***giggle*** Just like old times, right Rulue-senpai?” Yumi asked her.

“A little too much like it.” Rulue said.

“Shigu. What just happened?” Asked the girl standing next to Sig.

“I dunno, Chu. I’m as stumped as you.” Sig said.

“Chu? Sig, who’s the girl standing next to you?” Lidelle asked.

“My sister, Chu.”

“Chu!” The girl said.

“Aw, she’s adorable. Hi, Chu. My name’s Lidelle.”

“Nice to meet you, uh…”

“…”

“…Rita.”

“That’s not even close to my name.”

“Chu’s really bad with names.” Sig explained.

“She’ll only remember some variant of you name.” Arle added.

“But nowhere in my name does the word rita exists.”

“We feel you pain, Lidelle.” Ami said. “Chu calls me Amytee.”

“And she calls me Waffine.” Raffina said.

“And she calls me Aruru.” Arle said.

I was trying to hold in my laughter from hearing those names, but ended up failing and began laughing as hard as I could, which made the other girls angry.

“Oh, yeah! Real funny, Ally!” Ami said, sounding insulted in the process.

“I’m sorry, Ami. It’s just too funny!” I said while still laughing.

“Well, if you think it’s so funny, then why don’t you tell Chu what your name is and see what see comes up with?” Raffina demanded.

“Okay, sure! I could use a good laugh!”

After I calmed down a little, I walked over to Chu and crouch down to her level.

“Hiya, Chu! Name’s Ally.” I said.

“Nice to meet you, uh…”

“…”

“…Ally.”

“ **ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!** ” Ami, Raffina, Lidelle, and Arle shouted.

“ _Aw_ , no ridiculous nickname?” I asked.

“Your name’s easy for me to remember.” Chu said.

“What about mine? My name’s Ringo.” Ringo said.

“It nice to meet you, uh…”

“…”

“…Apple.”

“W-Well, you’re close.”

“Really? How is she close?” I asked.

“My name is Japanese for apple.”

“Wow! Chu, you know Japanese?” Ami asked.

“A little.” Chu said.

“Cool! Can you speak some for us?” Raffina asked.

“Uh…”

Chu stood there expressionless for a few seconds, trying to think of what to say. When she did, she turned to Sig while tugging on his jacket to get his attention.

“ _Watashi wa tabemono o eru koto ga dekiru toki ni watashi wa kūfukudesu_ ”

“Oh yeah. We should probably find something.” He said.

“Well, what did she say?” Arle asked.

“She said: _big bro I am hungry. When can we get something to eat?_ ”

“Wow, Chu! That’s amazing!” Ami said.

“ _Arigatōgozaimashita_ ”

“Uh, what?”

“She said: _Thank you._ ”

“Aw, you’re welcome, Chu! And yeah, we should find something to eat. Let’s go walk around some more, everybody!”

 

As we continued walking around the festival, this really strong smell became noticeable to our noses.

“Hey, guys, you smell that?” Raffina asked.

“Yeah, I do.” Lidelle said.

“It smells so good. What is it?” Ami asked.

“It smells like…stir fry.” Ringo said.

“Stir fry? Geez, it’s been forever since I’ve last had that!” Rulue said.

“What’s stir fry?” Arle asked.

“It’s a dish made when you fry a bunch of small ingredients like meat or vegetables with a little oil while stirring it in this thing called a wok. We used to eat it all the time, right guys?”

“Oh yeah! We did used to eat it constantly!” Melody said.

“So much, that we ended up buying a mini grill and a wok.” Lily said.

“We even kept them in the clubroom and used them whenever we could.” Yumi added.

“Wow, Mom. I didn’t know you liked stir fry that much.” Ami said.

“Same here, Lily.” Raffina said.

“Yeah, we didn’t think you ate something so casual.” Amira added.

“And what do you mean by **_that_** , Miss Amira?” Lily asked, sounded insulted.

“U-Uh…H-Hey, look! That’s the stir fry stand! Let’s go get some!” Amira said nervously as she sped off.

“ _sigh_. Honestly, that girl.”

“I feel for you, Lily. I really do.” Raffina said.

We caught up with Amira to the stir fry stand and the line wasn’t really that long, only a few people ahead of us. We were able to get a good view of the stand and we were shock to see who was cooking the food.

“Oh, I am **SO** taking a picture of this.” I said. As we got closer to the front, I got phone ready to take a picture. Until finally…

“Alright, who’s ne-

***CLICK***

“ **AH!** What the…”

“ **HA!** Gotcha, Klug! This picture’s gold!” I said.

“Nice, Ally! Send it to me when you get a chance!” Raffina said.

“Sure, Raffina.”

“Hey! Delete that!” Klug shouted as he tried to grab my phone.

“Delete it? Are you crazy? The whole town needs to see this!”

“Ally!”

“Aw, come on, Klug. You look pretty cool in that kimono.” Ami said.

“Thanks, Amitie, but I never wanted to wear this or cook all this stir fry. This was all Peruvis’ job, but she ran off practicing for this singing competition that’s never going to happen.”

“Wait, Peruvis? How do you know who Peruvis is?” Raffina asked.

“She’s my sister.”

“Your **SISTER?!?** ” Raffina and Ami yelled.

“Wait, how do you two know her?”

“Klug, your sister has been a pain in my side ever since we were 12 years old.” Raffina said.

“Really? So you’re the _pink-haired nympho_ she keeps talking about?”

“ **PINK-HAIRED NYMPHO?!?** ”

“Her words, not mine.”

“ **WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?!? I’M GONNA POUND HER TIL’ SHE DIES A SECOND TIME!** ”

“Like I said, she ran off somewhere. I don’t know where she is.”

“ **THEN I’LL FIND HER MYSELF!!!** ”

Raffina then stormed off with a fit of rage fueling her body as she clenched both her hands into fists.

“Oh boy. This doesn’t look good.” Lily said. “I’ll catch up with you guys later. Right now, I have to stop Miss Raffina from committing mass murder. Come on, Miss Amira.” Lily then ran towards the same direction Raffina did.

“Hey, Mel. You wanna see this? It could get nasty.” Amira asked.

“Uh…I’ll pass.” Melody said.

“Suit yourself. Hey, Lily! Wait up!” Amira then ran after Lily in the same direction.

“…”

“So…what did she mean by Peruvis being a pain in her side?” Klug asked Ami.

“It’s a long and stupid story.” Ami said.

“I’ll take your word for it, then. You guys still want some stir fry?”

“Sure! What do you have?”

“I’ve got regular beef, Chicken Teriyaki, Yasai Itame, and Yakisoba.”

“Ooo. I’ll take regular beef. Not sure what Raffina would want. Hope she gets back soon.”

“Great. Anyone else?”

“I’ll take regular beef, too.” Arle said.

“I’ll try this Chicken Teriyaki thing.” Schezo said.

“Shigu. I want Yakisoba.” Chu said.

“Okay, Chu. Two Yakisoba.” Sig said.

“Make that three for Yakisoba.” Melody added.

“I’ll take regular beef, but put extra beef on mine. I’ve been craving a lot of beef lately since ditching Mino.” Rulue said.

“I’ll take a Yasai Itame.” Lidelle said.

“Me too.” Ringo said.

“Me three.” Yumi added.

“I’ll take two Chicken Teriyaki.” I said.

“Two? Are you that hungry?” Lidelle asked me.

“No. One of them’s for Harpy.”

“For Harpy?”

“Did you really think she would be able to pick one out from the four given?”

“…”

“Good point.” Lidelle said.

“Thanks, Ally!” Harpy said to me.

“You’re welcome, Harpy.”

“Okay, so I’ve got 3 regular beef, one with extra beef, 3 Chicken Teriyaki, 3 Yasai Itame, and 3 Yakisoba.” Klug read the order list. “Anything else?”

“Wait a sec!”

We heard Raffina’s voice and we looked over to see her, Amira, and Lily heading for us.

“Add three more Chicken Teriyaki to that.” She said.

“Okay. So now it’s 3 regular beef, one with extra beef, 6 Chicken Teriyaki, 3 Yasai Itame, and 3 Yakisoba. Anything else?”

“I’ll take a Yakisoba, as well.”

“Okay. So that’s everything I just said, plus one more Yakisoba. Is that it?”

“It should be.” Ami said.

“Alright. Everything should be done in about 20 minutes. Just wait over there until then.”

“Thanks, Klug!” Me, Ami, Raffina, and Lidelle said.

“…” But as we said thanks, we realized something.

“…Wait a sec. Who order a 4th Yakisoba?” Raffina asked.

“I did.”

We knew that voice. We haven’t heard it in a long time, but we knew that voice. We turned around to see the owner of said voice, and we nearly broke into tears. Nearly.

“Ms. Accord!” The five of us shouted with glee.

“Hello there, kiddies. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Geez, Harm! I thought you’d never get here!” Melody said.

“Well, I would’ve been here earlier if you’ve gave me directions, Melody. When you hung up on me, I had to look for you guys on my own. I was lucky enough to hear Raffina’s yelling all the way from the other side of the festival.”

“That a girl, Raffina. Using your voice to lure Harmony to us. Good job!” Melody gave her a thumbs up.

“Sh-Shut up, Melody!” Raffina yelled at her, feeling embarrassed.

“It’s good to see you again, Harmony-senpai!” Both Lily and Yumi cheered.

“Lily! Yumi! I didn’t know you two were here the whole time!” Ms. Accord said.

“Yeah, we have! I take care of Raffina and Amira.” Lily said.

“And Lidelle’s my daughter.” Yumi said.

“Really? How come you never told me, Lidelle?”

“I never knew myself until today.” Lidelle answered.

“I see. Well, it’s good to see you two again!” Ms. Accord said with a smile.

“Hey there, Harmony! Long time no see!” Rulue said.

“Rulue…you haven’t aged a bit.”

“ ** _Ohhoho!_** Thank you, Harmony. You’re so kind.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Rulue, you look **exactly** how you did when we graduated.”

“H-Huh?! Wh-What are you talking about, Harmony?!”

“Y’know, now that I take a good at you Rulue, you do look like your 18-year-old self.” Melody said.

“Yeah, I see it too.” Lily added.

“You haven’t aged at all, Rulue-senpai.” Yumi claimed.

“Wh-What?! C-Come on! Y-You girls are just seeing things!” Rulue was stuttering at this point.

“ _Rulue…_ ” Ms. Accord looked at her with an intimidated stare.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“… **OKAY FINE!** ” She finally cracked. “When I went to that other world, I used a never aging potion! There! Happy now?!”

“Never aging?!” Melody shouted.

“And you didn’t bring some back?!” Lily shouted with her.

“Rulue-senpai!” Yumi shouted as well.

“I’m sorry, okay?!” Rulue yelled back. “I didn’t think I would be back in this world!”

“Now now, girls.” Ms. Accord said. “Rulue may look like an 18-year-old forever, but in reality she’s still the same age as us.”

“Yeah, true.” Melody agreed.

“And besides, Rulue’s not the only one who used it.” Ms. Accord then began looking at Schezo.

“Wh-What?” He asked.

“Don’t _what_ me. You used one too, didn’t you?”

“S-So what if I did?”

“Schezo, how old are you?” Arle asked. “And I mean your **real** age!”

“…”

“…”

“… _sigh_. I…I’m 180, okay?”

“ **YOU’RE 180 YEARS OLD?!?** ” Everyone shouted.

“It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Not a big deal?! Schezo, you’re nearly **11 times** older than me!” Arle yelled.

“I’m sorry, okay?! I have too much stuff to do to worry about dying!”

“Stuff like what?”

“Just…stuff.”

“ _Uh-huh._ ” I can tell from her face that Arle didn’t believe him.

“Food’s done!” Klug said as he brought the food out.

“Woah, Klug. It all looks delicious.” Ami said as we all starred at the food. She wasn’t wrong, either. The food looked mouthwatering. The aroma of the meat, noodles, and veggies plugged up my nose to the point where I couldn’t smell anything else. I took a bite of my dish and for a moment, I died a little.

“ **HOLY CRAP!** Klug! This is delicious!” I shouted.

“No kidding! This stuff’s amazing!” Ami agreed.

“When did you learn how to cook like this?” Lidelle asked.

“All of these are my dad’s recipes.” Klug said. “He travels a lot, so I’m the one cooking for me and my mom. Well, now it’s for me, my mom, and Peruvis, since she came back.”

“I see.”

“By the way, Raffina. Did you ever find her?”

“No. I was going to, but then Lily came and stop me.” Raffina answered.

“Miss Raffina…if I would’ve let you go, you would be doing a year in prison.” Lily said. “And I’m pretty sure Miss Amitie wouldn’t like that.”

“She’s right, y’know.” Ami claimed.

Raffina turned red from embarrassment.

“S-Sorry, Ami.” She said.

Ami then gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“It’s okay, Raffi. I forgive you.”

As we continued to eat our stir fry, heard a voice coming from where Klug was.

“Hey, Klug. I’m back.”

This voice belonged to a girl with purple hair and…black horns coming from her head?

“Hey, Peruvis! Remember me?! The pink-haired nympho?!” Raffina shouted while trying to hold in her anger.

“ ***GULP*** K-Klug! Y-You told her I said that?!” The girl said nervously.

“Well, how was I suppose to know it was Raffina you were talking about?” Klug asked. “And where were you anyway? I had to make all this stir fry by myself.”

“I already told you! I was practicing for the singing competition!”

“And I already told you, there is no singing competition!”

“Of course _you’re_ the one saying that. You’re just jealous of my wonderful singing voice.”

“ _sigh_. Does anyone have the updated flyer?”

“Updated flyer?” We all asked.

“I have one.” Ms. Accord said as she handed it to Klug.

“Thanks, Ms. Accord.” Klug said. “See, Peruvis? There was a typo with the flyers. It’s not a singing competition, it’s a **slinging** competition.”

“S-Slinging?! What are you slinging?!” Peruvis asked.

“These rainbow jellies Akuma found lying around.”

“ **Hmmm!** Okay, minor setback. But I can still win it and that Green Puyo Hat!”

“No you can’t.”

“And why the hell not?”

“Because it happened yesterday.”

“ **WHAT?!?** ”

“This is so fun to watch.” Raffina said.

“ _Raffi…_ ” Ami said.

“I’m just saying.”

“So who ended up winning, Klug?” Ami asked Klug.

“Not sure who they were. It was a girl with blonde hair carrying a broom and a green-haired girl who I think was cosplaying as a dragon.”

“Oh boy…” Arle said.

“You know who they are, Arle?” I asked.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure they came from my world. They’re kind of a troublesome pair. One makes these weird potions and the other eats whatever she could get her hands on.”

“W-Woah. They sound…interesting.” Lidelle said.

“Yeah, to say the least.”

“S-So, T-The Green Puyo Hat…is **GONE?!** ” Peruvis asked.

“They didn’t win that, either.” Klug said.

“Huh?” Ami, Raffina, and Peruvis said.

“They won one of Lemres’ five-pound gummy bears, which the dragon girl ate in one sitting.”

“ _sigh_. Typical Draco.” I heard Arle, Schezo, and Rulue say.

“ **GAH!** I was so close! That universal-changing wish was almost mine!” Peruvis shouted.

“No you weren’t.” Suddenly, a white ghost thing popped out of Peruvis’ back. “You still had to get the other 3 hats somehow. You were nowhere near close!”

“Sh-Shut up, Phoenix!”

“Woah! What’s with the ghost coming from your back?!” I asked.

“The name’s Phoenix.” The ghost said. “I live inside Peruvis and give her energy to live.”

“Like a tortured soul?” Melody asked.

“Yeah, it’s exactly that.”

“Mom, how do you know what a tortured soul is?” Ami asked.

“Um…w-well…”

“L-Let’s just say that we know one ourselves.” Ms. Accord jumped in.

“Okay then?” Ami looked confused, but decided to leave it alone for now.

“Anyway, now that you’re here, I’m going on break. You start cooking more stir fry.” Klug said as he shoved the utensils in his hands towards Peruvis.

“What? But I want to enjoy the festival!” Peruvis wined.

“You’re forgetting that this was **your** job in the first place.”

“…”

“Exactly.”

Klug exited out the back of the booth and went around it to end up on the same side as us.

“Mind if I tag along?” He asked.

“Sure. The more the merrier.” Ami said.

“See you later, Peruvis. Or should I say, purple-haired nympho!” Raffina teased as we walked away from the booth.

“ **GRRR! DAMN YOU, RAFFINA!!!** ” Was the only thing we heard Peruvis say before losing sight of her.

 

The rest of the festival went on without any problems. We played some games, ate more food, and above all, had a good time. When it was all over, everyone had gone home expect Ami, Raffina, Lidelle, Arle, Sig, Chu, Harpy and myself. We were sitting on a bench near the outskirts of the festival waiting for the fireworks to begin. While waiting, something from earlier came to mind.

“Hey, Harpy. What made you want to ask what sex was?” I asked.

“ **A-ALLY!!!** ” The other four girls yelled.

“Well, I was on my way home yesterday when I overheard two people talking about it. I didn’t know what they meant, so I was hoping you knew.” Harpy answered.

“Well, I do. But I’m pretty sure these three won’t let me tell you.”

“No, we won’t.” Ami said.

“Who the hell talk about that **IN PUBLIC?!** ” Raffina asked.

“People are just weird.” Lidelle said.

“Yep, sorry Harpy. You’re just gonna have to wait until you’re older.” I said.

“ _Aw_ , phooey.” Harpy said in disappointment.

“Shigu. What are they talking about?” Chu asked her brother.

“I dunno, Chu.” Sig said.

“Sig, you and Chu are better off not knowing just as much as Harpy.” Ami said.

_Ladies and gentleman, the fireworks are about to begin, **KUMA!** Please find a good spot and enjoy the show, **MA! KUMA! KUMA!!!**_

“Is Akuma always this loud?” Arle asked.

“Yeah, but you get used to it.” Raffina said.

“I see.”

Just as I said that, the fireworks began firing up to the sky and popping in the sky.

“ _Woah…_ ” We all said.

It was a sight to behold. The different colors blasting up into the cloud-filled sky, some with unique shapes and patterns. It was an enjoyable time. I couldn’t keep my eyes off them, until I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Hey, Ally.”

“Yeah, Lidelle?”

“You know, I was going to confess to you around this time. It would’ve been more romantic. But I couldn’t hold it in much longer.”

I smiled and kissed Lidelle on the lips.

“Silly. It wouldn’t matter what time you did it. I still would’ve said yes.” I said.

“ ***giggle*** I love you, Ally.”

“I love you too, Lidelle.”

“ _Aw_ , that’s so sweet.” Ami said.

“Reminds me of the time we confessed to each other.” Raffina added.

Then the two begin kissing each other on the lips **A LOT** longer than we did.

“I love you, Ami.”

“I love you too, Raffi.”

“That 25 second kiss was unnecessary.” Lidelle said.

“Way to kill the mood, Lidelle.” Raffina said, sounding insulted.

“Shigu. When are you and Aruru going to do that?” Chu asked.

“Wh-What are you talking about, Chu?” Sig started blushing.

“Yeah, Arle. When are you going to kiss Sig?” Harpy asked.

“H-Harpy!” Arle was now blushing as well.

“See, guys? Even Chu and Harpy notice it.” Ami said.

“Notice what?” Both Arle and Sig asked.

Ami, Raffina, Lidelle, and I looked at each other and laugh a little before turning back to Arle and Sig.

“You’ll see.” Was all we said.

The two were left with confused looks on their faces as we continued to watch the fireworks blast off into the starry-night sky.


	14. Panel de Puyo

 

**Amitie’s POV**

It’s been a week since the Summer Festival and me, Raffina, Lidelle, Ally, Arle, and Lidelle’s cousin Ringo were at my house hanging out. While Mom, Amira, and Lily were out in the backyard getting rid of the massive patches of grass.

We all decided to have a barbeque today and my house was the only place with a big enough backyard for the grill, once all the grass was removed.

Me, Lidelle, Ally, and Ringo were playing one of my video games while Raffina and Arle watched.

“ **GAH! ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME?! THIS GAME SERIOUSLY CHEATS!!!** ” Ally started yelling after the last round we were playing ended.

“You only say that because you keep getting last.” I said.

“What?! Come on, Ami! This game totally screws with newcomers! Right, guys?!”

“I’m doing fine.” Lidelle answered.

“Yeah, me too.” Ringo added.

“ **So I’m the only one?!** ”

“Yep. Sorry, Ally.” I replied sarcastically.

“ ***whine* SO NOT FAIR!!!** ”

“Hey, quit complaining and just get better at the game!”

“Boo!”

“Hey, Raffina. What’s this game called again?” I heard Arle ask Raffina.

“Apparently it’s called Chu Chu Rocket.” Raffina said.

“Wh-What?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Oh geez, Raffi. You seriously are blind when it comes to video games.” I said.

“You’re so girly, it’s even starting to show.” Lidelle added.

“ **QUIT CALLING ME GIRLY!** ” Raffina shouted.

“But you are.” Arle claimed. “You’ve never played a video game or read a manga. And even your room is super girly.”

“Ami! You told her about my room?!”

“S-Sorry, Raffi. I-It just slipped out one time.”

***whine***

I went over to Raffina’s side and hugged her until she felt better again. With an added kiss on the cheek for good measures.

“Thanks, Ami.” She said. “And just so you all know, I did play a video game before. I just don’t anymore.”

“Really, you did? That’s great, Raffi!”

“What was the name of it?” Ringo asked.

“Well, it was called…”

“ **OW! SON OF A-**

We suddenly heard Mom’s voice from the backyard. Next thing we knew, she along with Amira and Lily came in the house, with the latter two carrying her towards the kitchen and Amira wetting one of the rags we got.

“Mom! What happened?!” I asked.

“Not to worry, Amy. I’m fine.” Mom said. “It’s just this weird orange creature just clubbed me on the head.”

“Orange creature? Clubbed? Hey, Lidelle. You don’t think that’s…” Raffina asked her.

“Yeah, it has to be him.” Lidelle answered.

“Who?” Me, Ally, and Arle asked. Ringo didn’t say anything. Not sure if she knows what’s going on.

Just then, said orange creature ran into the house, still waving its club in the air in a fit of rage.

“ **AHHH!** **WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!** ” I screamed.

“Hey, Onion Pixy.” Lidelle said.

“Onion!” The thing said.

“…”

“What?” Was the only thing us three newbies were able to say. Raffina laughed at our reactions.

“Ami, Ally, Arle…this _orange creature_ that Melody was talking about is named Onion Pixy. He’s like a warrior of some sorts.” Raffina explained.

“Oh. Okay then?” I still sounded confused.

“Onion! On on, Onion!”

“Okay, we get it. You **are** a warrior.” Lidelle said.

“Onion.”

“Let me guess. Lidelle’s the only person in town who can understand him, right?” Arle asked.

“Pretty much.” Raffina answered.

“How come you know these weird creature’s native language?” Ally asked her girlfriend.

“It’s a special talent. I can learn any language in a matter of days.” Lidelle said.

“ **Days?!** ” Me and Ally were shocked by that answer.

“It’s true.” Ringo said. “Lidelle once learned the entire French language by reading a French dictionary in just 3 days.”

“Where did you get a French dictionary?” I asked.

“Internet.” Lidelle said.

“I see.”

“That’s my girlfriend for ya! So talented!” Ally gloated. She then hugged Lidelle and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“ ***giggle*** G-Geez, Ally.” Lidelle said with a light blush on her cheek.

“Onion! Onion! **ON-ION!** ” Onion Pixy looked madder than before.

“Lidelle, what’s this thing saying?” I asked.

“ **ONION ONION ON!!!** ”

“Well, first he said, _**Don’t call me a thing, you blonde moron!**_ ”

“Hey!”

I officially hate this thing.

“And second, he said, **_You people have a lot of nerve of stealing my Oniko from me!_** ”

“Who’s Oniko?”

“His girlfriend. He’s super protective of her.”

_I can see why she left._

“Look you…turnip or whatever vegetable you are! I don’t know where **_your_** Oniko went, but I didn’t take her!” I said to the mutant onion.

“ **ONION! ON ON ON ONION ON ONION!!!** ”

“He said, **_Why should I believe a naïve idiot like you, blondie?!_** ”

“Naïve idiot?! **Blondie?!** ”

I seriously hate this damn piece of compost.

“ **That’s it!** ” I took the jerky creature by its onion-shaped head and carried it to the door. Once I opened it, I kicked thing as hard as I could and sent it flying.

“ **OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNN!!!!!!** ”

“ **AND STAY OUT!!!** ” I yelled before slamming the door shut.

I went back to the living room where everyone was at and sat down on the floor, sighing my anger out of my body.

“S-Sorry you guys had to see that.” I said.

“It’s okay, Ami.” Raffina said while giving me a hug. “You’re not the first person to kick Onion Pixy like that.”

“Really?”

“He can be a total douchebag sometimes.” Lidelle claimed.

“ _Sometimes_ is a huge understatement.”

“Yeah, true.”

Just then, Mom and the others had walked in the living room, with Mom holding a rag on her forehead.

“You okay, Melody?” Ally asked.

“Yeah. The blood stopped coming out.” Mom said. “But the backyard’s still a mess, though. Can’t believe that’s 10 years’ worth of grass.”

“10 years?” Arle asked.

“Yeah apparently before me and Mom moved here, this house was abandoned for 10 years.”

“Oh wow. Hey, Melody. Maybe I can try getting rid of the grass.”

“Really, Arle? You sure? I don’t have anything for you to cut it with.”

“No need. I think I have a way to do it.”

“Huh?” We were all confused by what Arle just said.

Arle then went to the backyard and we followed her there, watching her do whatever she was going to do. Arle took a huge deep breath and I heard her mumble something under her breath.

 _I hope this still works…_ Was what she said.

Arle then raised her right hand in the air and formed a pointing gesture with it. She brought her hand down rather quickly and pointed at the grass.

“ **FIRE!** ”

All of a sudden, a burst of fire came out of Arle’s finger and it started burning all of the grass in front of her until there was none in sight. Revealing a grey brick floor underneath.

We were all shocked at what we just saw.

“A-Arle…wh-what did you just do?!” I struggled with asking that question.

“Oh, that. Um…well…back in my world, I was known as one of the greatest sorceress of all time.”

“Woah! A sorceress?!” Ally asked.

“Why are you now telling us this?” Lidelle asked.

“Well…to be honest…I forgot.”

“…”

“ **YOU FORGOT YOU WERE A SORCERESS?!** ” Us teen girls yelled in disbelief.

“I-I’m sorry, okay?! I just did! You know…with the whole mirror thing. It kinda just slipped my mind.”

“Arle, I think Sig’s carefreeness is starting to rub off on you.” Raffina said.

“H-Hey!”

“Well look at the bright side, Miss Raffina. At least we can start preparing the barbeque now.” Lily claimed.

“Yeah, and we’re lucky enough to have this grey brick floor here.” Amira added.

“Yeah, that is pretty lucky.”

“Never would’ve thought a ton of grass would grow on such a hard surface.” Lidelle said.

“Well anyway, we’re going to need a bunch of meat and crap.” Mom said. “Ami, can you go to the store for me?”

“Can you not call it _meat and crap_?” I asked.

“Okay. Then how about meat and s-

“ **NO!** ”

“I was going to say _stuff_. Geez, Ami. Learn to trust your mother more.”

“Coming from you, that’s impossible.”

Lily then covered her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing. But failed.

“And what’s so funny, Lily?” Mom asked, sounding insulted.

“Nothing, Melody-senpai.” Lily said, but couldn’t keep a straight face.

As Mom wined at her, I left the backyard and eventually the house in general to go to the store for the barbeque.

 

Primp was in the middle of a massive heatwave, so the heat was unbearable. Luckily, I was comfortable enough with this purple and white tank top, black shorts with a little dark blue/purple-ish on the edges, and these orange and white shoes that I haven’t worn in a while, but surprisingly still fit me. I also brought a sports drink with me, just in case I get thirsty.

I had just made it to the plaza when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I checked it to see that Ally had left me a text.

_‘Hey, Ami. While you’re out there, can you go look for Harpy? She was supposed to be here earlier, but I guess she got lost or something.’_

Needless to say, I was a little upset. Me doing an extra thing in this heat wasn’t something I was going to accept so easily.

 _‘Seriously?! Why can’t you go look for her yourself?!’_ I texted back.

**_*BZZZT*_ **

_‘I would, but I’m busy at the moment.’_

At first, I thought it was… ** _that_** , but then I remembered something and decided to have a little fun with it.

 _‘Busy with what? Snuggling Lidelle?’_ I texted back.

**_*BZZZT*_ **

And I got the response I was expecting, which made me giggle a bit.

_‘N-No! Sh-Shut up! Th-That’s none of your business!’_

**_*BZZZT*_ **

_‘Just go find her already!’_

“Wow, Mom’s right. Teasing is fun. But that’s enough wasting time. I should been heading to the store now.”

“…”

“Okay, one more!”

_‘Alright, alright. I’ll go look for her. You two have fun now. ***lenny face*** ’_

**_*BZZZT*_ **

_‘Meanie!’_

This really made my day.

 

I finally got to the store and grabbed one the tiny baskets that are usually found near the entrance. As I walked down each aisle, I went through everything that we needed for the barbeque.

“Let’s see…burgers, hot dogs, various chicken parts…that should be enough meat. Plates, napkins, cups, utensils…that’s all the important stuff. I’ll just get a few bags of chips and head out.”

I got a couple bags of chips and was about to get in the checkout line when I remembered something.

“Shoot! I forgot soda!”

As I made my way to the soda aisle, I wasn’t paying any attention to my surroundings, and accidently bumped into someone, knocking the both of us down.

“ _Ouchie_ …I-I’m so sorry! I-I wasn’t paying attention!” I pleaded.

“ **Grrr…** You’ve got a lot of nerve to – oh. Amitie, it’s only you.”

I recognized that voice.

“Huh? Peruvis? What are you doing here?”

“Freaking Klug made me come out here in this damn heat just to get more soda! Apparently, I drank his and he won’t shut up about it!”

“It had his name on it.” Phoenix said, popping out her back.

“How was I supposed to know that?!”

“You would’ve if you just looked.”

“So you knew the entire time and didn’t bother to tell me?!”

“I can’t do **everything** for you, Peruvis.”

“Why you…” Peruvis managed to calm down a bit, prevent her to rage out in the middle of the store.

“Anyway, why are you here?” She asked me.

“Me and the others are having a barbeque. So I came to get food and stuff.”

“And by _others_ , you mean…”

“Ally, Lidelle, her cousin Ringo, Arle, my mom, Amira, Lily, Harpy once I find her…”

“And Raffina, right?”

I froze right when she said that. I figured that I mentioned Raffina, Peruvis would go into another one of her fits. So I purposely left her out.

“Come on, out with it!”

But I guess she figured it out.

“Yeah. And Raffina.” I said softly.

“Figured as much.” Peruvis said in an annoyed tone.

“Do you really hate her that much?”

“Of course I do! She took the championship right from under me!”

“But that was four years ago! I think it’s time both you and Raffina stopped this ridiculous feud of yours.”

“Believe me, I would **LOVE** that!” Phoenix said.

“ **PH-PHOENIX!!** ”

“Come on, Peruvis. Don’t you want to go back to how things were back then? When you and Raffina were friends?”

Peruvis went silent for a bit and turned her head away from me, hiding her red cheeks from me.

“Y-Yeah. I-I do think of that…a little.” She said shyly. I’ve only known Peruvis for a couple of days, but how she was acting really took me by surprise.

“Well then come with me back to my house and you guys can end this fight once and for all.”

“I don’t know, Amitie…”

“You can stay for the barbeque.”

“I’m in!”

“Phoenix, I swear to God…” Peruvis yelled at him.

“Hey! I want free food! So get a grip and let’s go!”

“ _sigh._ Fine. Just let me give this soda to Klug.”

“Alright. Where do you live?” I asked.

“You kidding? I’m not making two trips for this! Especially in this heat!”

“Then how…”

“ **PK TELEPORT!** ”

Just then, Peruvis vanished right before my eyes. Then after a few seconds, came back standing the same spot she just disappeared from.

“ **WH-WHAT THE – WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO?!** ” I asked franticly.

“I teleported, duh.”

“Well, yeah I know that! It’s just how did you do that?!”

“It’s something I learned when I first became a tortured soul. It’s really useful.”

“I-I see…”

After I got all the shock out of me, I noticed Peruvis had something in her hand. She was actually trying to hide it.

“What’s that you got there?”

“I-It’s nothing. C-Can we just go now?”

“Okay, fine. But first I have to look for Harpy.”

“Harpy?”

“The airheaded angel girl.”

“Oh yeah, I remember her.”

Peruvis then noticed something behind me.

“Isn’t that her over there?”

I turned around to see Harpy floating in front of the freezer section with one of the doors opened. It looked like she was cooling herself off, but when we got closer to her, we noticed that she had fallen asleep in front of the freezer.

_Oh my God, this girl…_

“Harpy…Harpy, wake up!” I yelled while shaking her body.

“H-Huh? Oh. Hiya, Amitie! Hiya, scary horned girl!” Harpy said.

“It’s Peruvis!” Peruvis shouted, sounding insulted.

“Oh, really? Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Harpy, what are you doing?” I asked.

“It’s _soooo_ hot outside, Amitie. I was about to past out! But then Chu said we can cool off by standing in front of these things, and now I feel all cool inside!”

“Huh? Chu told you to do this?”

“Yep! And now I feel super-duper cool!”

“Where did Chu go, anyway?”

“Here!”

“ **AHH!** ”

I jumped up at little and turned to see Chu standing behind us.

“Ch-Chu! D-Don’t sneak up on me like that! You almost gave me a heart attack!” I complained.

“Sorry, Amytee.” Chu said.

“It’s Amitie.”

“Amytee?” Peruvis looked confused.

“Chu has a really bad memory when it comes to names. At least that’s what her brother said.”

“Her brother?”

“You know. Sig. The bored soul.”

“Oh yeah, I remember.”

“Amytee, who’s this girl?” Chu asked.

“Her name’s Peruvis. She’s a friend of mine.”

“Oh. Nice to meet you, uh…”

“…”

“…Peridi.”

“ **P-Peridi?! How the hell did you get Peridi?!** ” Peruvis asked.

“See what I mean?” I said to her.

“Yeah, I see.”

“Peridi?! **HAHAHAHHA!!!** That is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard!” Phoenix began laughing.”

“ **SHUT UP, PHOENIX!!!** ” Peruvis shouted at him.

“Anyway…Harpy, Ally told me to come look for you. We’re having a barbeque at my house.” I said.

“A what?” Harpy looked confused.

“It’s food.”

“ **YAY! FOOD!** ”

“You can come too if you want, Chu.” I said to her.

“ **YAY! FOOD!** ” Chu also cheered.

_She sounds happy, but I can’t tell with that expressionless face of hers._

“Amytee, can Shigu come too?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“ **YAY!** ” Chu ran to the side to call her brother on her phone.

“She can’t even remember her own brother’s name?” Peruvis asked.

“I honestly think she’s doing this on purpose.” I said to her.

Chu then came back towards us in excitement…I think.

“Shigu’s coming! Shigu’s coming!” She cheered.

“Okay, Chu. Calm down.” I replied. “Just both of you follow me and we’ll be at my house in a few minutes.”

“ **YAY!** ” Both Harpy and Chu cheered.

“Finally!” I heard Peruvis say.

“Well, aren’t you eager?” I said to her.

“Sh-Shut up!”

 

Once I paid for the stuff I got, me, Peruvis, Harpy, and Chu headed over to my house to meet up with everyone. We were near inches to the front door when Peruvis started getting second thoughts. But as she was about to turn back, Phoenix managed to control her body and forced her inside. I didn’t ask how he did that. I’ve seen enough supernatural stuff for one day.

“Hey, guys! _Look what I got..._ ”

“ **RECTANGLES!!!** ” Ally shouted.

“Really, Ally?” I said, trying not to laugh.

“Hey, you’re the one who said it, Ami. I had to make that reference.”

“ ***giggle*** I’m glad you did.” Lidelle said before giving Ally a kiss on the cheek.

“Anyway, I found Harpy for ya.”

“Ally!”

“Harpy!”

The two girls hugged each other while being a little bit off the ground, but they eventually went too high and Lidelle had to pulled them down.

“Where was she?” Arle asked.

“She fell asleep in front of the freezers at the store.” I said.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Arle had one of those _are you kidding me?_ Looks on her face.

“Aruru!”

“Huh? Chu, what are you doing here?”

“She was with Harpy when we found her. I decided to invite her too.” I explained.

“I see.”

“Aruru! Shigu’s coming too!”

“Wh-What?! S-Sig’s coming?! I-I’m going to take a quick shower!” Arle said with a blushed face as she ran to the bathroom.

_Seriously. when is she going to notice?_

“Hey, Ami!”

Raffina came to greet me, but then saw Peruvis standing next to me. She got pissed faster than usual.

“ **Why the hell is Peruvis here?!** ” She asked.

“ **Hey, I want barbeque too!** ” Peruvis yelled. “ **You can’t keep all the meat to yourself, you rabid animal!** ”

“ **WHAT! DID! YOU! SAY?!?** ”

“ **GUYS, ENOUGH!!!** ” I yelled. “ **I’M SO SICK AND TIRED OF THE BOTH OF YOU FIGHTING ALL THE DAMN TIME!** ”

“Wow. That’s got to be the first time I heard you swear, Ami.” Ally said.

“Ami…” Raffina said, just as shocked.

“Look, Raffi. I’m sorry for swearing at you, but you and Peruvis really need to end this stupid rivalry!”

“But she’s the one who keeps bringing it up!”

“That’s because I should’ve won that tournament!” Peruvis yelled.

“Guys! Enough is enough! Settle it already!”

Both girls went silent for a bit. They really weren’t used to me yelling.

“F-Fine.” Peruvis spoke. “But there’s only **one** way to settle this…if she knows what I mean.”

“Oh? You’re challenging me _again_?” Raffina teased.

“Damn right, I’m challenging you again! And when I beat you…

 **THE TITLE OF PANEL DE PON CHAMPION WILL BE MINE!!!** ”

“Ha! As if! You’ll just lose like last time!”

“…”

“…”

“…H-Hey…Raffina…Peruvis…” I said.

 “Y-Yeah, Amitie…” I bet they knew that I was pissed as hell, because they turned slowly while responding to me.

“…So you’re telling me…

…that this feud…

…this four-year feud…

 **IS OVER GAME OF PANEL DE PON?!?!** ”

“Nya! Raffina! Your girlfriend is scary when she’s angry!”

“Yeah, I agree!”

“Wait, Panel de Pon?!” Lidelle asked.

“You mean that girly puzzle game with the fairies?!” Ringo asked.

“ **THAT’S** what started this feud?!” Ally asked.

“ **IT’S NOT GIRLY!!!** ” Both Raffina and Peruvis shouted.

I managed to calm down a bit before talking again.

“Guys…how. Just how?”

“Okay yes, it was a Panel de Pon tournament. But it was just for fun! It had **nothing** to do with our martial arts class!” Raffina explained.

“We were the best Panel de Pon players in the whole class. Every day after practice, we would play multiple rounds together and keep track of the amount of wins and losses each of us got. And when the tournament started, it was us two in the finals.” Peruvis added.

“So how did one game ruin a friendship like that?” Ringo asked.

“Well, I’m not sure if this one remembers, but there was a glitch in that copy of the game that caused me to lose!”

“For the last time, there was no glitch!”

“You only say that because you’re the one who caused it!”

“No I didn’t!”

“Hey, what’s with all the yelling?” Amira had came in the house after hearing Raffina and Peruvis bickering all the way from the backyard.

“We’re trying to figure out why a game of Panel de Pon ruined Raffina and Peruvis’ friendship four years ago.” I said.

That’s when Amira froze up.

“P-Panel de Pon?! H-Haven’t heard of that game in a while. Y-You still play that, little sis?”

“I haven’t played it since 4 years ago.” Raffina said. “Why are you stuttering?”

“Wh-What? M-Me? St-Stuttering? Pl-Please! W-Who do you think I am, Lidelle?!”

“ **Hey!** ” Lidelle shouted, sounding insulted.

“Amira…you know something, do you?”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“ _Amira…_ ”

“…”

“ **Okay, fine! I admit! It was my fault!** ”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Peruvis asked.

“Four years ago, during the finals…I really had to use the bathroom and I wasn’t paying attention…and I accidently tripped over one of the chords.”

“You…did… **WHAT?!?** ” Both Raffina and Peruvis shouted.

“ **I’m sorry! It was an accident! I swear!** ”

“ **Your _accident_ made my screen all black and white! I couldn’t see any of the colors!** ” Peruvis yelled.

“Wait, it only affected you?!” Raffina asked.

“ **Yeah, it did! I tried pointing it out, but everyone kept saying that I was a sore loser and made it up! Not even you believed me, and you were my best friend!** ” Peruvis had tears rolling down her eyes. Remember that moment must’ve really broke her.

Raffina then did something I thought would never happen. She hugged Peruvis real tight and allowed her to cry all over her shoulder.

“Peruvis. **I’m sorry! I’m sorry for not believing you! For treating you badly all these years! If only I wasn’t so stubborn back then!** ” Raffina started crying after saying all that.

“I’m sorry too, Raffina! I was just as big of a jerk as you! And I secretly regretted it!”

“Me too!”

The two girls continued to cry on each other’s shoulders as the rest of us watched. It was then that Arle came out the bathroom from her shower.

“Hey, Amitie. Why are Raffina and Peruvis crying?” She asked me.

“They just ended their 4-year feud.” I said.

“W-Woah! 4 years?! That’s a long time to be fighting!”

“Yep! And it’s finally over!”

“What were they fight about in the first place?”

“Ever heard of the game Panel de Pon?”

“Panel de Pon? Oh yeah, I remember that game.”

“Wait, of all things, you had Panel de Pon in your world?”

“Yeah, but I never played it. It was too girly for me.”

“ **IT’S! NOT! GIRLY!!!** ” Raffina and Peruvis shouted.

“Yes. Yes it is.” Me, Arle, Lidelle, Ally and Ringo retorted.

“Hey, Harpy. What’s going on?” Chu asked her.

“I don’t really know either, Chu.” Harpy answered.

“Well, now that everyone’s happy again, how about we go eat? I’m starving!” Amira said.

Raffina and Peruvis looked at Amira with somewhat threating looks on their faces.

“Hey, Amira.” Raffina said.

“Y-Yes, dearest little sis?” Amira sounded terrified.

“Just so you know…”

“…We’re gonna kick your ass in the future.” Peruvis added.

“ **SO BE PREPARED!!!** ” They both yelled.

“L-

Li-

 **LILY!!!!!!!** ”

Amira ran out the house towards the backyard where Mom and Lily were.

“I’m probably gonna get it from Lily later on, but it was _so_ worth it!”

“And I’m probably gonna get another lesson from Klug about controlling my anger, but for once I’ll be happy about.”

“Geez, you two…” I said with a facepalm.

***KNOCK**KNOCK**KNOCK***

“I’ll get it!” Arle yelled as she ran to the door and opened it.

“Hey, Sig.”

“Hey, Arle. Is Chu here?” Sig asked.

“Shigu!” Chu cheered when she heard her brother’s voice. She ran to the door and hugged Sig real tight with both arms.

“Hey, Chu. Having fun?”

“Shigu. Waffine and Peridi were fighting but then they stopped.”

“It’s Raffina.”

“It’s Peruvis.”

“Why do you guys even bother? She’s never going to remember it.” Arle asked.

“We wouldn’t mind if she wasn’t so far off.” I said.

“Yeah. The fact that she calls me Rita still bugs me.” Lidelle added.

“Sorry, guys. That’s just how she is.” Sig said.

All of us who had a ridiculous name given by Chu just sighed in defeat.

 

About 45 minutes later, the barbeque was done and we all ate outside in the cool summer sunset. While everyone was scattered around the backyard, me, Raffina, and Peruvis were relaxing at the side of the house.

“I don’t remember the last time we ate together like this, Raffina.” Peruvis said.

“Yeah, me neither. It’s all a blur to me.” Raffina said.

“Brings back good memories, huh?”

“Yep. Sure does.”

“Well, I’m just glad you two are friends again.” I said.

Raffina and Peruvis then looked at each other, which got me suspicious.

“Should I tell her?” Peruvis asked.

“It’s only fair. She did fix our friendship.” Raffina replied.

“Huh? Tell me what?”

“Well, Amitie…you should know…Raffina was my first love.”

“ **R-REALLY?!** ”

“Yeah, I was. But I turned her down.” Raffina said.

“H-How come?”

“I guess during that time I didn’t realize that I was a lesbian.”

“I see…”

“You don’t have to worry, Amitie. I’m not going to steal Raffina away from you.” Peruvis said.

“You’re not?”

“No…but I will do this!”

At that very moment, Peruvis grabbed Raffina and pulled her in for a long kiss on each other’s lips. When she finally let go, the both of us were in shock.

“ **P-PERUVIS!** ” I shouted.

“ **WH-WHAT THE HELL?!** ” Raffina shouted afterwards.

Peruvis just stood there and began laughing at our reactions.

“So damn worth it!”

“I know right!” Phoenix said while coming out of her back. The two beings then hi-fived each other while we stood there with annoyed pouts on our faces.

“What are going to do with her, Ami?” Raffina asked.

“She’s your best friend, Raffi.” I said. “She’s your best friend.”


	15. Multi-Flavored Cousin

**Raffina’s POV**

_Geez, I can’t believe me and Peruvis played Panel de Pon until 3 in the morning._

“Fufufufu…”

_I’m so tired, that I can’t move my body._

“Fufufufu…”

_But still, I’m glad that me and her are friends again. And it’s all thanks to Ami._

“Fufufufu…”

_Okay, seriously. Who is laughing like that?_

I came out of my train of thoughts to realize that something, or better yet _someone_ , was touching me…in a place where I thought no one but me would touch otherwise.

“Fufufufu…They’re pretty big, as expected from her. They shall be the perfect sacrifice for my charm spell.”

_Aw crap. I recognize that voice._

“Now I just need to give them one big sque-

***POW!***

Without any hesitation, I punched the person in the face and I heard a girly wine coming from said person as they fell backwards and fell on their bottom.

“ _Ow! Why’d you hit me?!_ ”

“ **Why were you trying to squeeze my breasts?!** ”

“ _I needed a good feel so I’ll know how big to make mine! This charm was my last hope!_ ”

“ _sigh._ ”

The person I was talking to was my cousin Feli. She’s 15-years-old, a year younger than me, has long purple hair topped off with a red ribbon, and she’s highly into making charms. Some for others, but they’re mostly for herself.

I pulled Feli off the floor and sat here on the chair next to my desk in my room.

“What are you doing here anyway, Feli?” I asked.

“I already said. I needed to perfect my charm and…”

“I mean the **real** reason.”

“…Fine.”

Feli then dug into one of her shorts pocket and pulled out a note.

“Here. It’s from Mom.” She said as she gave it to me, feeling sad like she was about to cry.

“Hey, why are you sad all of a sudden?”

“Just read it…please.”

I ignored Feli’s weirder than usual behavior and read the note to myself.

_Dear Raffina,_

_It’s been a while hasn’t it, dear niece? I’m writing to you because I’m in need of a favor. You see, your cousin Feli has been going out of control, and by “out of control” I mean her usual self. Her behavior has gotten her suspended from her school so many times that they don’t want her back for high school. And her charms have nearly destroyed our home…36 times. I love my daughter, I really do. But I just can’t take it anymore. Maybe you can tame her. She seems to look up to you more than anyone else. I owe you big for this._

_Sincerely,_

_Auntie._

 “F-Feli, is what’s all here true?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Feli responded, while trying to hold in her tears. “I can’t believe Mom would just get rid of me like I’m trash. I really am a problem child.”

“Feli, Auntie doesn’t think you’re trash. And you’re not a problem child. You’re just special.”

“Raffina, I don’t think being banned from the only school in your hometown and nearly destroying your home 36 times is anything special.”

_Damn, she has a point._

“And besides, I’m not doing it on purpose. I’m only performing these charms so I can use them on my body.”

“You shouldn’t use your charms to change your body, Feli.”

“But I’m tired of waiting! I’m only a year younger than you, yet you have _way_ bigger breast than me!”

“H-Hey! Th-They’re not _that_ big!” I said with a faint blush.

“S-Sorry.” Feli said. “I just want people to stop calling me a loli.”

“A _what?_ ”

“Loli. It’s when a girl looks younger than her actual age.”

“S-Seriously? That’s a thing?”

“Of course it is. You would know if you watched some anime every once in a while.”

“I’m not into that stuff.”

“And yet, you wonder why Mom calls you girly.”

“ **I’M NOT GIRLY!!!** ”

“You don’t really prove it, though.”

“This isn’t even about me!”

“Right…”

“Look, Feli. You shouldn’t be mad at yourself, nor should you be mad at Auntie.”

“I-I shouldn’t?”

“No. You really are a special girl. And if Auntie thinks you’re better off living with me, then she knows that you need someone who’s just as special as you.”

“How are you special?”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t asked that.” I said, sounding insulted.

“Sorry, I just had to.” Feli grinned. Even though it took me getting insulted, I was glad to see Feli smiling again.

“Anyway, let’s go downstairs. I think breakfast should be done by now.” I said.

“Does **_she_** still live here?” Feli asked. Judging from past experiences, I knew who exactly who she was talking about.

“Yes, she still lives her.”

“Damn. Maybe I can…”

“No you can’t. You’re just gonna have to put up with her.”

“ _sigh._ Fine. Thanks for letting me stay here, cousin.”

“Hey, we’re family. I would do anything for you.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Well, in that case, _fufufufu…_ ”

“ **No, you cannot touch my breasts again!** ”

“ _Aw, come on! Please?!_ ”

“ **No!** ”

“ _But, my charm…_ ”

“ **NOT HAPPENING!** ”

“ ** _*moan*_** _Fine!_ ”

After Feli stopped whining, we both headed downstairs for breakfast. I’ve got a feeling that Amira and Lily don’t know yet that Feli’s going to live with us.

_Breakfast is going to be complete hell, I just know it._

 

As we made ourselves downstairs and into the dining room, I told Feli to stand behind me until I say so. She reluctantly agreed and we entered the dining room.

“Morning.” I said.

“Good morning, Miss Raffina.” Lily greeted.

“Hey, Sis. Didn’t think you’ll be up this early.” Amira said.

“Well, yeah. Something came up.”

“ _Another date with Amitie?_ ”

“N-No! Sh-Shut up!” I started blushing.

“Miss Amira. Please don’t start this early in the morning.”

“Fine, fine.”

I took some time to calm down from Amira’s teasing before continuing on.

“Uh…hey, guys. You remember Feli, right?” I asked.

“Miss Feli? Yeah, what about her?” Lily asked.

“ ** _Ugh._** That brat? Why’d you bring her up?” Amira asked, sounding annoyed.

“W-Well…”

“ **WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BRAT, YOU WITCH?!** ” Feli yelled from behind me.

“ **F-Feli?!** ”

“ **F-Feli?!** ”

“ **What the hell are _you_ doing here, you brat?!** ” Amira yelled.

“ **Cease calling me a brat at once, you imbecile!** ”

“ **Imbecile?! Why I oughta…** ”

Feli and Amira continued to yell at each other while I sat at the table giving myself a huge facepalm.

“Uh…Miss Raffina. Why is Miss Feli here?” Lily asked.

“Well…she lives with us now.”

“ **WHAT?! AH HELL NO! There’s no way I’m living with this annoying goth girl!** ” Amira yelled.

“You don’t have a choice, Amira. Auntie sent her here.”

“Really? How come?” Lily asked.

“She got banned from her school and nearly destroyed her house…36 times.”

“With her charms, I suppose?”

“Yeah, pretty much. So now I got to get her set up before school starts.”

“She’s going to the same high school as you?” Lily asked.

“She’s going to high school?” Amira asked. “Isn’t she like 10?”

“I’m 15!” Feli yelled. “And I’ll have you know, I’m smarter than I look! I was the top student in my grade.”

“Yeah, _was_. Before you got banned.”

“Why you…” Feli pointed one of her bent metal sticks at Amira in a threating way.

“Feli…” I said.

“Fine.” She put the stick down.

“You two better get along. I don’t want to hear a bunch of yelling 24/7.”

“ _Sigh._ If I don’t have a choice, then fine. The brat can stay.” Amira said.

“And I’ll try to put up with her. For you, cousin.” Feli said.

“Good.”

“So, Miss Feli. You brought all your stuff with you, I assume?” Lily asked.

“Yes. Although most of it’s still being transported here.”

“So that explains why Baldanders is in the front yard.”

“You brought Baldanders with you?” I asked her.

“Of course I did. Didn’t you read the note?”

“Huh?”

I re-read the note and saw the last part which I paid no attention to before.

_P.S. She wouldn’t leave without Bal, so you’re stuck with him too._

_How am I now noticing this?_

“Bal’s here?! Sweet! I’m going out to see him!” Amira shouted as she stormed out the room in excitement.

“Hey! Stay away from my dog!” Feli yelled as she chased after her.

“ _sigh._ Here we go. You coming, Lily?”

“I might as well. I don’t think anyone’s going to eat breakfast now.” Lily said.

We both walked outside to meet up with Amira, Feli, and the oddly oversized dog known as Baldanders.

“Hey, Bal. Long time no see.” I said.

“ _ARF! ARF!_ ”

“You’ve gotten…bigger since we last saw you.” Lily added.

“ _ARF!_ ”

“Feli, where’d you say you got Baldanders again?”

“I told you, Raffina. I found him in a box outside near my school.” Feli said.

“That sounds a bit too suspicious…”

**_*whine*_ **

“N-Nothing against you, Bal. It’s just you’re the biggest dog I’ve ever seen. It’s quite an achievement.”

“Yes, I agree. You should be proud of yourself, Baldanders.” Lily added.

“Well, of course!” Feli gloated while hugging her dog. “Nothing is impossible for my Bal! Right, boy?”

“ _ARF! ARF!_ ”

“Hey! Quit hogging him all to yourself!” Amira complained.

“Why shouldn’t I?! He’s **_my_** dog! And I think I remember telling you to stay away from him!”

“ **Why don’t you make me, you damn brat!** ”

“ **I’ll show you, you idiotic she-devil!** ”

Amira and Feli continued to yell at each other while the three of us sat there and watched.

“So this is going to be every day, huh?” Lily asked.

“Yep. Better get used to it.” I replied.

**_*whine*_ **

 

Eventually, the two of them stopped yelling at each other and went there separate ways. Amira had to run the jewelry store today and Lily stayed home to watch Baldanders. So it was just me and Feli as we walked down the plaza together.

“It’s been a while since you last been to Primp, huh Feli?” I asked.

“Yeah, it has.” Feli said. “Though I’m surprised everything looks the same.”

“Yeah, true. Although everyone’s still recovering from the Summer Festival.”

“ **I missed the Summer Festival?! _Aww!_ Why didn’t you tell me?!** ”

“Sorry. I didn’t think you were in to those.”

“I’m not, but having Lemres see me in a cute kimono would’ve been worth it.”

I stopped right then and there on the sidewalk and starred at Feli with complete and utter shock.

“Wh-What?” She asked.

“Y-You said… **YOU SAID THE WORD CUTE!!!** ”

“ **J-JERK!!!** ” Feli shouted while giving me a small shove.

“Sorry. It’s just that took me by surprise.”

“Geez. I’m still a girl, you know. I can be cute if I want to.”

“Really? Like when? The only time you smile is when you’re either doing your charms, you’re with me, or when you’re with Lemres.”

“W-Well, performing charms are fun, you’re my cousin, so I like being around you, and you know how much I love Lemres.”

“Yeah, I know. But ‘ _cute_ ’ isn’t exactly the first thing people say when they look at you. You know, with every shirt and pants you own is either grey or black.”

“Like I said, I can be cute if I want to.”

“Again, when?”

Feli then suddenly started blushing deeply while slowly turning to the side away from me. It took her a while for her to say what was on her mind, but she eventually gained the courage to do so.

“Wh-When I…p-pick out…c-cute…panties.”

“Wh-Whoa…” Now I was deeply blushing. “I-I see…”

“ **Please don’t tell anyone I said that! Please!** ”

“Okay, Feli. Your secrets safe with me.”

“Th-Thanks…Raffina.”

“Hey, speaking of Lemres…we’re just about to approach his sweets shop. You want to-

“ **YES! OH DEAR GOD, YES! TAKE ME TO HIM THIS INSTANT!!!** ”

“…”

“I-I mean, can you take me to see Lemres, please Raffina?”

I giggled at Feli’s multiple personality trait and patted her on the head.

“Sure. Let’s go.”

Feli grew a small smile on her face as we continued our now walk to the sweets shop.

 

“Well, here we are.” I said as we stood in front of the doors of Lemres’ sweets shop.

“Yes. **YES!** **In just mere seconds, I’m going to see my one true love! If only I had my charm book! I’ve could’ve made one that would confined our love forever! Damnit!** ”

“ _Feli…_ ”

“R-Right. S-Sorry.”

We both went inside the shop to see Lemres standing behind the counter. Sitting  across from him were two people I didn’t expect to see today.

“Huh? Hey, Ami! Hey, Ally!”

“Raffi!” Amitie cheered as she jumped off the stool she was sitting on and came towards me and we hugged each other once we made contact. We tried to resist our urges to kiss each other, but we failed.

“ _Aw._ Too cute.” Ally said, which took me by surprise for the second time today.

“What, no teasing us this time?” I asked.

“Well, I kinda grew out of that.”

“R-Really?”

“It’s true. She hasn’t made a perverted joke in a while either.” Amitie confirmed.

“Woah. Well good for you, Ally.”

“Thanks, Raffina.” Ally said. Then she turned her attention to the back counter.

What was happening was Feli was acting googly while starring at Lemres.

“ _H-Hi, Lemres! I-I missed you!_ ” She said.

“Feli. It’s been a while since you were last here. How’ve you been?” Lemres asked.

“ _I-It could…be better. I-I kinda…got banned from my school._ ”

“Oh dear. That’s horrible.”

“ _I-It is. B-But now I live with Raffina, s-so I can go to school with her._ ”

“Well, that’s nice.”

“ _Y-Yes. A-And we can see each other every day. A-And with my charms, **we can be together in love forever! Such is fate! Fufufufu!!!**_ ”

“Uh…Feli…please calm down.” Lemres said in the most calm way possible.

“So…Raffina. Who’s the creepy loli?” Ally asked.

“ ** _I’m not a loli!!!_** ” Feli wined.

“S-She changed personalities!” Amitie freaked out.

“ ** _Raffina! Tell them I’m not a loli!_** ”

Both Amitie and Ally then looked at me with a crap ton of confusion on their faces.

“I can explain. You see, that’s my cousin Feli. She lives with us now and can do these special charms on people, including herself.”

“ ** _Raffina…_** ”

“Also, she hates being called a loli.”

“Right.” Amitie said.

“I see.” Ally said, then turned to face Feli.

“Sorry for calling you…well, that. I wasn’t trying to be mean. My name’s Ally.”

Feli was hesitant at first, but then she felt like Ally was serious and decided to trust her.

“I-I’m Feli. Raffina’s cousin.”

“Nice to meet you, Feli.”

“Nice to meet you too, Ally” Feli said with a small smile.

I then looked at Amitie and nodded at her, signaling what I want to do next. She agreed, and we held each other’s hand as we got Feli’s attention.

“Hey, Feli. I’d like you to meet someone. This is Amitie, my girlfriend.”

“Y-Your girlfriend? R-Raffina…y-you’re gay?”

“Yeah, I am. You don’t hate me, do you?”

“What?! No! Of course not! I don’t care if you like girls, I could never hate you!”

“Thank you a lot, Feli.”

“I’m just glad you found someone to be happy with.”

“Yeah. Ami does make me happy.”

“Ami?”

“It’s a nickname some people call me.” Amitie explained. “Most people call me Amitie.”

“I see. Nice to meet you then, Amitie.”

“Nice to meet you too, Feli.”

“You know, Feli. I’m gay, too.” Ally said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Lidelle’s actually her girlfriend.” I explained.

“ **L-Lidelle?! Really?!** ”

“Yeah, it was a shock to us too.” Amitie said.

“Wow…”

Lemres then cleared his throat in order to get our attention. I honestly forgot he was here the whole time, despite it being **his** shop.

“Sorry for breaking up the introductions, but I’m closing up shop soon. Do you girls need anything before I go?” He asked.

“ **YOU’RE HAND IN MARRIAGE!** ” Feli shouted.

“Besides that.”

“We’ll just take some ice cream to go.” Amitie said. “Hey, Raffi. Can I spend the night at your place tonight?”

“Sure, Ami.”

“Sweet! I’m gonna call Mom and tell her real quick.” Amitie then ran for the door.

“What flavor do you want?”

“Uh, mint chocolate-chip!”

“Okay!”

“Hey, Lemres. Is there any cookies ‘n cream left? I could give some to Lidelle.” Ally said.

“Hmm. You could, but wouldn’t you want to get her favorite flavor?” Lemres asked.

“ _Oooo…_ What’s that?”

“Double Mocha Ice Cream Sundae.”

“W-Wow. Sounds like a lot.”

“Yeah, but Lidelle’s eaten it tons of times before.”

“Yeah I bet with that appetite of hers. I’ll take two then.”

“Excellent choice. I would tell you to say it was your idea, but she’ll probably figure out it was me.”

“Yeah, I bet.”

“And what would you like, Feli?” Lemres asked.

“U-Uh…w-well…ch-ch-chocolate. I-I want chocolate…p-please?” Feli stuttered while blushing throughout the whole thing.

“Alright. Coming right up.” Lemres then started packing each individual ice cream in a separate container.

“Too cute.” I said.

“ _Sh-Shut up, Raffina!_ ”

I giggled at Feli’s embarrassed reaction.

 

After we got our ice cream, Lemres closed up and went home. Ally said that she was going to spend the night at Lidelle’s house, so once we got to a certain spot while walking, we parted ways from her. Now it was just me, Feli, and Amitie as we made our way to my house.

“Oh, and just so you know Ami, Feli has a dog.”

“Really? How sweet. What’s its name?” Amitie asked.

“His name’s Baldanders. But everyone calls him Bal.” Feli said.

“ _Aw!_ Cute name! I bet he’s a little cutie!”

“Cute, yes. Little, far from it.” I said.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well…”

**_*BZZZT*_ **

Just then, my phone rang, letting me know that I got a text message. I took my phone out of my pocket and looked through it to find the message.

‘ ** _R-RAFFINA! TH-THERE’S A GIANT DOG-LIKE THING IN YOUR YARD! I-I’M TOO SCARED TO GO NEAR IT! H-HELP ME!!!_** ’

I started laughing after reading the message.

“What’s so funny?” Amitie asked.

“It’s Peruvis. She’s at my house she’s too afraid to go near Baldanders.”

“How big is he?” Amitie sounded nervous.

“He’s pretty big, but he’s also really friendly.” Feli replied.

“I see. Can’t wait to meet him.”

Once we got to my house, we saw Peruvis hiding behind the tree that sits in my front yard. She looked extremely panicked.

“You’re seriously hiding behind a tree? What are you, 5?” I teased.

“Sh-Shut up!” Peruvis said. “D-Do you **NOT** see how big he is?!”

“Yeah, I see.”

“Wh-When and where did you get such a thing?!”

“He’s not my dog. He’s my cousin’s.”

“Your cousin? Is that who this girl is?”

“Yep. This is my cousin Feli. She just moved in with us.”

“Is that so? Well nice to meet you Feli. I’m Peruvis.”

Like last time, Feli looked hesitant. It took her a bit longer to trust Peruvis, but she eventually felt okay around her.

“H-Hi. I-I’m Feli.” She said nervously.

“Feli, don’t be scared.” I said.

“S-Sorry. I-It’s just I’ve never met a tortured soul before.”

“Feli, you know about tortured souls?” Amitie asked.

“Y-Yeah. I read about them when I was in school.”

“So what gave me away?” Peruvis asked.

“I sensed a great amount of energy coming from you. It’s the same amount most tortured souls would have.”

“I see…” Peruvis sounded impressed.

“W-Well, that and your horns were a dead giveaway.”

“Oh. Of course.”

“So what are you doing here, Peruvis?” I asked.

“What do you think? I wanted to play some more Panel de Pon.”

“Panel de Pon? That girly puzzle game?” Feli asked.

“Yeah, that game.” Amitie answered.

“ **It’s not girly!** ” Both me and Peruvis yelled.

“It kinda is.” Feli said.

Both me and Peruvis just sighed in annoyance. One of these days, people are going to stop calling our favorite game girly.

“Anyway. You plan on staying over this time, Peruvis? Me and Ami brought ice cream.”

“Sure, why not? I plan to beat you 13 times in a row anyway.”

“ _Oh?_ Are we getting cocky?”

“Who said anything about being cocky? I said I plan to, so it’s going to happen.”

“ _We’ll see about that…_ ”

“ _I guess we will…_ ”

We both laughed in a somewhat creepy way while Amitie and Feli  watched.

“Th-This is normal?” I heard Feli asked Amitie.

“So far, yes.” Amitie answered.

Once Peruvis got to know Baldanders a little more, once Amira and Feli stopped arguing with each other, and once we placed the ice cream in the freezer, the four of us went upstairs to my room and Peruvis and I marathoned Panel de Pon again.

This time, until 4 in the morning.  


	16. Arle's Letter

**Lidelle’s POV**

**_*moan*_ ** _Poochy! Let me sleep!_

_…_

_Huh? Nothing?_

I opened my eyes a little to see my room and everything in it. The only thing that was nowhere in sight was Poochy.

“Huh…Poochy’s not here. I think I’m starting to get used to him licking me up every morning.”

I began rubbing my eyes a little and turned over on my bed in an attempt to go back to sleep. As I stopped my eye rubbing, however, I saw something that really caught me off guard. Something blue…green…stripped…kinda cute…

“ **YAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!** ”

 “ **YAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!** ”

The sight of it fully woke me up in an instant. I shouted as I backed up so much I fell off my bed. It also woke up another person there. The owner of the blue, green, stripped, and kinda cute thing I saw.

“L-Lidelle?! What happened?! Why’d you scream just now?!”

“ **A-A-Ally! Y-Y-You’re p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p…** ”

It took Ally a couple of seconds to realize what I was freaking out about, and she instantly blushed out of embarrassment.

“ ***shriek*** **I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!!** ” She shouted while pulling her black tee down.

It took us a couple of minutes of silence for each of us to calm down, as this wasn’t something people normally wake up to. After about 5 minutes, I was able to say something.

“A-Ally…d-do you normally wear only a shirt and panties when you go to bed?”

“N-No. I-It’s only when I get super-hot.”

“If you were hot, then why didn’t you say anything?”

“I…I didn’t want to wake you. You looked so peaceful, you know?”

“O-Oh…I-I see.” I started blushing.

It’s only been 2 weeks since me and Ally became lovers, and it’s been a little…awkward recently. So the two of us decided to spend more time together. One way is that Ally stays at my house for a while, with every few days she goes back to Amitie’s to pick up fresh clothes. Mother was okay with it. In fact she found it, in her words, “adorbs”.

She’s clearly Melody’s best friend from high school.

“W-Well…can you put on some pants please?”

“R-Right.”

Ally went towards the side of the bed and dug into her overnight bag that she keeps here. She pulled out a pair of grey shorts and gets underneath the covers to put them on, then came back out and sat on the edge of the bed.

“S-Sorry my panties woke you up.” She said, still sounding embarrassed.

“It’s okay. It’s only… **11:42am!?** ” I shouted when I looked at the time on my phone.

“ **We’ve nearly slept the entire morning!** ”

“Well, that’s…kind of an accomplishment, right?”

Ally thought about it for a second.

“Yeah, it is. We’re starring to become an actual lesbian couple.”

“Yeah. We really are.”

I got up from the floor and sat on the bed next to Ally. I then wrapped my arms around her waist and she did the same to me, and we started kissing each other on the lips. This lasted for about 10 seconds. We’re trying to not be as affectionate as Amitie and Raffina. We broke our lips apart and starred deeply into each other’s eyes.

“I love you, Ally.”

“I love you too, Lidelle.”

 

Soon after we came out my room and freshen up a bit before heading to the living room. There we saw Mother, Ringo, and Rulue sitting around the table talking to each other. Rulue had moved in with us since she had nowhere else to go after the festival.

“Morning, everyone.” We both said.

“Well, look who decided to wake up. It’s almost noon, you know.” Ringo said.

“Yeah, we overslept.” I responded.

“ ***giggle*** You two must really love sleeping to wake up this late.” Mother said.

“Yeah well…”

“What are you talking about, Yumi? You used to sleep in all the time.” Rulue claimed.

“Really?!” Me, Ally, and Ringo asked in shock.

“Yep, it’s true. Back when we were in high school, the four of us would always have to go to Yumi’s house just to wake her up in the mornings. And she was a heavy sleeper, too.”

“ _Woah…_ ”

“O-Okay, Rulue-senpai! I think they get it!” Mother sounded like she was embarrassed, which was a rare sight for me.

“I didn’t think you were the one to sleep in, Mother.”

“W-Well, during that time…I was seeing your father a lot.”

“Wait, you met Dad during high school?”

“Yes, but he was never a student. You know, with him being the demon king and all.”

“Woah, seriously Lidelle? Your father was the demon king?” Ally asked.

“Yeah. It kinda explains the horns.”

“I always found it interesting how you and your brother got my green hair and your father’s horns.”

_Geez, Mother. Did you really had to bring **him** up?_

“Oh yeah. Your brother.” Ringo said, sounding unamused.

“You have a brother, Lidelle?” Ally asked.

“Yeah, but he rarely comes to visit. When Dad died he took over as the demon king. I personally wouldn’t mind this if he didn’t go to a completely different world, which was completely unnecessary.”

“Oh, wow.”

“And not only that, when he **does** come to visit, he talks non-stop about this girl name Aruru that he says he’s fallen in love with. And based on what he’s told us so far, she doesn’t feel the same way.”

“Wait, Aruru? Isn’t that what Chu calls Arle?”

I thought about this for a second…

“Huh…yeah it is, actually.”

…And then it hit me.

“ **WAIT A MINUTE!** ”

“ **Is Arle this _Aruru_ he keeps talking about?!** ” Ringo asked, just as shocked as I was.

“ **That’s insane!** ” Ally shouted.

“ _No…no, it can’t…_ **IT CAN’T BE!!!** ” Rulue shouted. Unlike the rest of us, she looked more…distressed.

“R-Rulue-senpai! What’s wrong?!” Mother asked.

Rulue looked extremely nervous as she turned to face Mother. Like she did something really bad to her.

“Y-Yumi…d-do you happen to know a guy named Satan?”

“Satan? Yeah, he’s my son.”

“ **AH, DAMN IT! I KNEW IT!** ”

“Do you know him, Rulue-senpai?”

“Y-Yeah. He lives in the world I came from.”

“Really now? So that’s where he ran off to.”

“A-And uh…Yumi…”

“?”

“A-At one point…I was in love with him.”

“…”

“ **WHAAAAAT?!** ” The four of us shouted.

“L-Like I said, I **_was_** in love with him! Those feelings are long gone now!”

“Woah…I never would’ve thought.” I said.

“Rulue-senpai…how on earth did you manage to fall in love with my son?” Mother asked.

“I didn’t know he was your son. I didn’t even know he had a family. He never brought you guys up during a conversation.”

“Oh he didn’t, huh?” I sounded angry.

Now you see why I don’t like mentioning him.

“Plus…I never told him my real age. He thinks I’m 18.”

“That’s understandable. You do still have your 18-year-old body.” Mother said.

“I’m really sorry, Yumi. I seriously didn’t know. Are you able to forgive me?”

“Of course I am, Rulue-senpai. There’s no way you’ve been able to know about that.”

“Thanks a lot, Yumi.”

“And besides, I’m more angry at Satan for never mentioning his own mother.”

“And his sister.” I added.

“And his cousin.” Ringo added.

“Wow…this Satan guy sounds like a real douchebag.” Ally said.

“I wouldn’t blame you for saying that, Ally.” I said.

“Anyway…now with that out of the way, what’s everyone planning to do today?” Mother asked.

“I’m staying home today. My friend Maguro’s supposed to send me a text about what stuff I need for when school starts.” Ringo said.

“I see. You know, Rulue-senpai, Ringo’s going to Suzuran High School in August.”

“Really? I didn’t think that place was still open.” Rulue said.

“It is.” Ringo confirmed. “It’s actually a train ride from my house.”

“I see.”

“Hey, Auntie. Do you think you and Rulue can tell me what It’s like there? I’m really curious.”

“Sure, I got time. What do you think, Rulue-senpai?”

“I’ve got no problem with that. It’ll be like a trip down memory lane.”

“Great! Thanks a lot!”

“Do you and Ally want to listen too, sweetie?”

“Maybe another time, Mother. Me and Ally are trying to work on our relationship.”

“I see. Well, good luck you two.”

After I changed my clothes into some dark-grey shorts and my favorite green sweater, I met up with Ally, who was feeding Poochy some food, and we left through the front door.

“See you later, Poochy!” We both said.

“ _ARF! ARF!_ ”

 

With nothing else to do, we decided to go to the park and walk around a bit, in an attempt to make our relationship stronger.

“It’s really peaceful today isn’t it?” Ally asked.

“Yeah, it really is. Kinda surprising to be honest.”

“Hey, Lidelle. Can I tell you something?”

“What, another secret?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it a secret. But it’s something I think you should know.”

“Alright, hit me.”

“Right here, in this park, I didn’t realize my feelings for you on my own. I had a little help.”

“Really? From who?”

“You won’t believe it, but it was Ms. Accord.”

“Ms. Accord? Wow I never would’ve thought.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t understand what she meant by it at first. Had to do the thinking on my own.”

“Yeah that sounds a lot like her.”

“But hey, it made me realize that I love you. So it’s not all bad.”

“Yeah, true. We should probably go thank her sometime.”

“Yeah, we should.”

After a few more minutes of peaceful walking, we encountered a semi-big tree that neither one of us have seen before. What was strange about it was not the tree itself, but what was on it. Or in this case, _who_ was on it.

“Isn’t that Arle and Schezo?” I asked.

“Yeah it is. Though why’s Schezo climbing the tree?” Ally asked.

“Not sure. Wanna go over there and find out?”

“Sure. It looks interesting.”

We walked over to the tree where Arle and Schezo were and we were able to hear their conversation.

“ **Come on, Schezo! Hurry up and grab it already!** ” Arle was shouting at him from below.

“ **I’m trying! Climbing a tree is not the easiest thing in the world!** ”

“You’re only saying that because you’ve never done it yourself.”

“ **Hmph!** Like you can do better.”

“Please. I can do this with little to no effort.”

“Well, if it’s _so_ easy for you, then why don’t you come get it yourself?”

“For what? So that you can get a good view of my panties? As if, pervert.”

“ **Like I have ANY interest in seeing your panties!** ”

“You don’t? So you **DO** swing that way!”

“ **NO I DON’T!!!** ”

“Uh, Arle…what are you two doing?” I asked.

“Oh. Lidelle! Ally!” Arle greeted us. “Well you see, I have something important to give to someone but the wind ended up blowing it into the tree up there. I was lucky enough to run into Schezo just a few moments afterwards.”

“Yeah. _Real_ lucky.” Schezo retorted.

“ **Just hurry up and grab it!** ”

“ _sigh_. **Fine!** ”

“What’s this thing you’re trying to get, anyway?” Ally asked.

“Um…w-well…” Arle started blushing and twiddling her fingers. Ally had whispered in my ear what she thinks it for, and it giggled at the possibility.

“Let me guess, Arle. Whatever’s up there…it’s for Sig, isn’t it?” Ally asked with a smile on her face.

“ **WWWWWWWWHAT?! N-N-N-N-NOO!!! That’s not it at all!** ”

“ _It isn’t?_ ” We both asked in a teasing way.

“…”

“ **Okay, fine!** It is for Sig. It’s really important to me so I really need it back.”

“Okay, Arle. We get it.” I said.

“ **HAHA!! I GOT IT!** ” Schezo shouted.

“ **You got it?! You got my thing?!** ”

“Well, I got something. But it’s not like there’s anything else up here.”

Schezo used his sword to grab the thing in question. With every strike he made, the leaves on the tree moved like crazy.

“ **Hey! Quit poking me!** ”

…

“D-Did that tree just talk?” I asked.

“It did, didn’t it?” Arle asked.

“Sounds like a whiner.” Ally said.

“Whatever it is, it’s not going to make me waste my time doing this insane climb!” Schezo said as he continued to poke the same spot as before. After a few more pokes, the tree started shaking franticly and after a short while…

“ **AAAHHH!!!** ”

 “ **AAAHHH!!!** ”   

Someone ended up falling out it, bringing Schezo down with them.

“ **GAO! Who the hell kept poking me?! That really hurt!** ”

“Huh? Draco?” Arle said.

“Huh? Arle! You’re here too! I almost didn’t recognized you with your hair down! Hey, cool outfit!”

“Thanks. What were you doing in that tree?”

“Oh, that. I was giving myself a little tan for the next beauty pageant, but then something kept poking me and I ended up losing my balance. Luckily this new world is so soft. I didn’t feel a thing!”

“ _That’s because I did._ ”

“Huh? Who said that?”

“Draco…look beneath you.”

Draco looked below her to see that she was sitting on top of Schezo.

“Schezo! You’re here too!”

“Yes, I’m here. **Now get off me!** ” Schezo yelled.

Draco got off of Schezo and stood up on his own.

“You better be lucky I’m too exhausted to do anything or else I would be _penetrating_ your _insides_ right now.”

The rest of us looked at him with slight discomfort.

“Uh, Schezo…You just did it again.” Arle said to him.

“…”

“ **Ah, Damn it!** ”

“It’s okay, Schezo. I have no idea what you’re talking about anyway.” Draco said.

“Okay…I guess.”

_Is this girl just as much of an airhead as Harpy?_

“So, guys. Is this girl a friend of yours?” Ally asked.

“Yeah, she is. This is Draco Centauros. She’s a half dragon girl. Can breath fire and all that.” Arle explained.

“Hiya! Name’s Draco! Nice to meet ya!” Draco greeted us.

“Nice to meet you too, Draco. I’m Lidelle, and this is my girlfriend, Ally.”

“Nice to meet you, Draco.” Ally replied.

“Girlfriend? Is that some kind of friendship rank you get?”

“Friendship rank?” We both sounded confused.

_I think this girl is a bigger airhead than Harpy._

“S-Sorry, guys. Draco’s not that…bright.” Arle said.

“Hey, I am too bright! Otherwise I wouldn’t be entering the beauty contest happening here soon!”

“Beauty contest?” We were even more confused.

“Draco has this fixation for beauty pageants. She spends her time gearing herself up for one, even when there’s none happening.”

“Which is 99.9% of the time.” Schezo added.

“Oh, wow.” We said.

“ **Hmph!** You’re all just jealous that you have no chance of beating me!” Draco pouted.

“I’m a guy! I don’t have a chance because I have no interest!”

“ **YAY! LESS COMPETITION!!!** ”

_Yep. Huge airhead._

“Anyway, Draco.” Arle continued. “Did you see something else up there?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah! I did! I found this letter up there. Who’s this Sig whatever?”

“ **He’s not a whatever! He’s my friend!** ”

“Really? It’s for a friend? _Oooo!_ Let me see!” Draco started opening the letter.

“ **GIVE ME THAT!!!** ” Arle swiped the letter from her hands and placed it in her pocket.

“ _Aw!_ But I wanna know what it says!”

“ **Hell no!** ”

“ **Gao!** ”

“Don’t you have somewhere to be, Draco?”

“…”

“Oh yeah! I was supposed to get something for Wicchi! See ya guys later! Hee hee!”

Draco then flew off using her wings, leaving a huge gust of wind behind.

“Wow. She’s something.” I said.

“Yeah. With her around, things are going to get a little…interesting to say the least.” Arle said.

“And not only that, Witch is here, too.” Schezo added.

“Oh yeah. She is.”

“Who’s Witch?” Ally asked.

“Another friend of ours. She makes potions for a living, but they’re usually ones nobody needs.”

“I see.”

“Well, whatever. I’m exhausted to think about her right now.” Schezo said. “Your welcome for me getting that letter back. Now I’m going home.” He then began walking off.

“Oh right. Thanks, Schezo.”

“So are you going to do now, Arle?” I asked.

“Hmm. Not sure. I’ll probably just go home now.”

“Then I’ll come too. I need to get fresh clothes anyway.” Ally said.

“Geez, Ally. At this rate, you might as well move in with Lidelle.”

We both started blushing as red as if someone pored fruit punch all over us.

“N-N-N-N-No. Th-That’s not necessary.”

“Y-Y-Yeah. It’s only temporary.” I added.

“Okay, if you say so.” Arle shrugged her shoulders.

The three of us then made our way to Amitie’s house.  


	17. Soulless Sister

**Ally’s POV**

 

About 10 minutes later, the three of us made it to Ami’s house and I opened the door to get inside.

“We’re home.” Me and Arle said.

“Oh hey, guys. Welcome back!” Ami greeted us.

“Hey, Amitie. I’m just tagging along with Ally.” Lidelle said.

“That’s fine.”

“Hey, Ami. I don’t see Melody’s car in the driveway. Did she leave?” I asked.

“Yeah, she went to do an errand of some sorts. She didn’t say what it was, though.”

“So it’s just you here?”

“No, Raffi’s here too. Along with her cousin and Peruvis.”

“Wait, her cousin? You mean Feli’s here?” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah. In fact, she moved here two days ago. Ally and I already met her.”

“Why didn’t you tell me, Ally?”

“Sorry. It must have slipped my mind.” I answered.

“Well she’s in the living room, if you want to see her.”

“Okay, sure.”

We went into the living room to see Raffina, Peruvis, and Feli sitting in front of the TV. Raffina and Peruvis were once again playing Panel de Pon, while Feli watched from behind.

“Hey, guys. Arle, Ally, and Lidelle are here.” Ami said. But Raffina and Peruvis were too focused on the game to listen.

“Hey! Guys!”

No response.

“Hello?”

Still nothing.

“ **I’ve got a bomb strapped to my chest! And it’s going to explode in 15 seconds unless one of you says something!** ”

Not a single sound.

“ ***moan*** I really thought that would get them.”

“You would think it would.” Arle said.

“I guess they’re too immersed into that girly game to witness reality.” Lidelle claimed.

“ **IT’S NOT GIRLY!!!!** ” Both girls suddenly yelled at us.

**_THAT_ ** _got their attention?!_

“Hey, Raffi. Glad to see you came back to earth.”

“ _Very funny, Ami._ ”

“You guys really need to stop bashing this game.” Peruvis said. “We would be at each other’s throats if it wasn’t for this game.”

“Yeah, but didn’t this game start the feud in the first place?” I asked.

“…”

“…”

“Oh yeah.” They both said.

“Hey, Feli. It’s nice to see you again.” Lidelle said.

“It’s nice to see you again too, Lidelle.” Feli responded. “I-I’ve heard…you have a girlfriend now.” She was blushing at this point.

“Yeah, it’s true.”

“A-Are you…h-happy?”

“Yes, I am. Being together with Ally is the best thing in the world, for me that is.”

“I-I see.”

“Feli, you don’t have to be nervous just because most of us are lesbians.” Raffina told her.

“I-I’m not nervous. I’ve just…been thinking of something…”

“Really? Of what?”

“…”

“I-I…I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”

“I see. Well, you can always tell me when you’re ready, okay?”

“Th-Thanks, Raffina.”

“ _Aw_. Your cousin’s really cute, Raffina.” Arle said.

“Oh right. You guys haven’t met. Feli, this is another one of my friends. Her name’s Arle.”

“Well, technically my name is Arle Nadja, but everyone calls me Arle.”

“I see. Nice to meet you, Arle.”

“Same here, Feli.”

 

For the next 20 minutes, we all just sat around and talked with each other. With Ami and Raffina sharing a kiss every once in a while. I would say how unnecessary it was…but me and Lidelle did the same thing. So neither one of us had the right to say anything.

“So how’s the two of you guy’s experiment going along?” Peruvis asked.

“It’s going well. We’ve been getting a lot closer together as of late.” I answered.

“Yeah, but this morning was a little **_too_** close.” Lidelle added.

“Y-Yeah. It was.” We both started blushing.

“ _Oh?_ What happened?” Raffina asked.

“Nothing! Nothing happened!” We both yelled.

Raffina and Peruvis turned to look at each other and smiled with a smartass attitude.

“ _Oh yeah. Something happened._ ” They both said.

“ **NOTHING HAPPENED!!!** ”

“ _If you say so…_ ***giggle*** ”

_Geez! First Ami, now these two?! My teasing is stabbing me in the back!_

“Anyway…I came back just to get a fresh set of clothes. Then I’m going back for a few more days.”

“Oh yeah! Ally, this came in the mail for ya.” Ami said, handing me a letter.

“ ** _OOOOOOO!!!_** It’s been a while since I got mail! Wonder what it is!”

I excitedly opened the letter and read what it said, only to be highly let down and somewhat agitated.

“Ah, Damn it!”

“What is it?” Ami asked.

“Rafisol’s coming over.”

“Rafisol? Oh wow! I haven’t seen her in a long time! It’ll be great to see her again!”

“Maybe for you, Ami. Me, not so much.”

“You still haven’t gotten over that?”

“How could I, Ami?! I’m inferior to her in every way!”

“But you’re the only one who thinks that!”

“Still counts!”

While we sat there and argued, the rest of the girls watched on with confused looks on their faces.

“Uh, guys. Who’s Rafisol?” Lidelle asked.

“Tell them, Ally.”

“B-But Ami…”

“ **Just do it!** ”

“ ** _Fine._** ”

It took me a while for me to do this. I really didn’t want to, but if I didn’t. Ami would. And she has no problem with it.

“ _sigh._ Rafisol…is my twin sister.”

The room went dead silent after hearing what I said.

And then…

“ **YOU HAVE A TWIN SISTER?!?** ”

“ _Surprise._ ” I said sarcastically.

“Ally, why did you never bring this up?” Lidelle asked.

“Ally has this bit of rivalry with her sister.”

“Rivalry? You mean like what me and Peruvis had?” Raffina asked.

“No, not really. It’s more complex than that. And more stupid.”

“ **It’s not stupid!** ”

“Yes, Ally. It is.”

“What’s she like, Ally?” Arle asked.

“Here. I have a picture of her on my phone.”

I pulled up a picture of me and Rafisol before I moved her and showed it to everyone. Ami already knows her, so she didn’t look. The other girls, however…once they saw the picture, they were more confused and creeped out than amazed.

“U-Uh, A-Ally…w-why is Rafisol…uh… _floating?_ ” Peruvis asked.

“That’s because she doesn’t have a soul.” I said.

The room went silent again.

“ **SHE DOESN’T HAVE A SOUL?!?** ”

“Nope. Completely born without one.”

“How does that even happen?!” Raffina asked.

“It’s a rare birth defect. Doesn’t happen all that often.”

“It’s true.” Feli added. “I read it in a book once. The chance of someone being born without a soul is 1 in every sextillion.”

“Sextillion?”

“1 followed by 21 zeros.”

“H-Holy crap! There’s a number **_THAT_** big?!” Arle asked.

“Yep. It’s the biggest place value with a name, but there could be ones even bigger than that.”

“D-Damn.” Raffina said.

“And my sister just **_HAD_** to be the one.” I said.

“Ally, normally people would feel sorry for someone without a soul, not hate them.” Lidelle said.

“I don’t hate Rafisol! She’s my sister! I’ll always love her! It’s just…” I went dead silent.

“It’s just what?”

I didn’t want to tell them…about this secret I had. But I knew I didn’t really have a choice. Not with Ami in the room, that is.

“Well, you see…my family is a special group of people. We’re a family of mages.”

“ **MAGES?!?** ” Everyone (except Ami) shouted.

_At least the room didn’t go silent this time._

“Yeah, it’s true.” Ami claimed. “Ally and Rafisol have special powers within them. But with Rafisol being soulless, she’s a lot more powerful.”

“How powerful?” Peruvis asked.

“She can spawn all these energy spheres, mini-tornados, and electro-balls, and all I can do is this stupid heart trick!” I said with a little anger.

“Heart trick?” Feli asked.

_I’m gonna have to show them am !?_

I took a deep breath and held my right hand up in an open palm gesture.

“ **LOVE SHINE!** ”

Then a heart-shaped energy sphere appeared in my hand.

“ **WHOA!!!** ” Everyone sounded amazed.

“That’s super cool, Ally!” Arle cheered.

“Yeah, I guess. But that’s not all it does.”

“There’s more? Show us, please!” Lidelle said while starring into my eyes.

_Why does she have to be so cute?_

I looked around to see what I could use for an example. I only had two options, so I went with the one sitting across from me.

“Sorry, Peruvis.”

“Wait, what? What do you me-

Before Peruvis could finish her question, I threw the heart at her, causing her to fall backwards to the floor.

“A-Ally! Wh-What you that for?!” Raffina asked.

“Just watch.”

“Huh?”

Just then, Peruvis got back up and sat on her legs in a somewhat space-y state.

“Hey, Peruvis. You okay?” Feli asked.

Peruvis didn’t answer and looked around the room, starring at each of us for no more than 7-8 seconds.

“ _Hey…everyone…”_

Everyone was starting to get worried, well…everyone besides me and Ami, of course.

“Yeah, Peruvis? What is it?” Raffina asked.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“ _LET’S FALL IN LOVE!!!_ ” Peruvis cheered.

Prepare yourselves, readers. Because a WTAF (what the actual…you know) kind of reaction is coming up in…

3…

2…

1…

“ **WHAT THE ACTUAL $#% &?!?**”

See. I told you.

“ _Come on, guys! Let’s all get lovey-dovey together! Hahahahahaha!_ ”

“P-Peruvis! Wh-What are you saying?!”Arle panicked.

“R-Raffina! Y-Your friend is scaring me!” Feli wined while hiding behind Raffina.

“ **COME TO YOUR SENSES, GIRL!** ” Raffina shouted while shaking Peruvis, in an attempt to snap her out of it.

“ _Hey, guys. Do you feel hot? I feel hot. Imma gonna take this off…_ ”

Peruvis then proceeded lift her shirt up, in an attempt to take it off, to the point where we could see her blue and white bra.

“ **AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!** ” The girls screamed.

“Okay, Ally. I think they’ve seen enough.” Ami said to me.

“Yeah. You’re right, Ami.”

I once again held my hand in an open palm gesture and took a deep breath.

“ **LOVE SHINE!** ”

Once another heart-shaped energy sphere appeared in my hand, I threw it at Peruvis and she went back to normal after a few seconds.

“Wh…what the… **why was I trying to take my shirt off?!** ” She looked highly embarrassed when she realized what she was trying to do.

“You were under Ally’s spell.” Ami explained.

“H-Her spell?”

“Yep. That’s my power. I have the ability to manipulate other people’s romantic feelings, making them fall in love with whoever they see.”

“W-Woah…” Everyone said.

“I know. It sucks, right?”

“ **Sucks?! Ally, that power is amazing! If not dangerous!** ” Arle shouted.

“How is it amazing? Rafisol can do all these badass spells while I’m stuck using this lovey-dovey spell. **I wanna be a badass, too!!!** ”

“A badass?” Raffina asked. “Ally, this is starting to sound like…”

“Yep! You got it, Raffi! Ally’s totally jealous of her sister!”

“I wouldn’t call it jealousy! It’s just…”

As I was explaining what I meant, I felt Lidelle hugging me tightly around my waist, which made me blush like crazy.

“L-Lidelle! Wh-What are you…”

“ _Idiot._ ”

“Huh? How am I an idiot?”

“Because you let jealousy blind you from seeing how special you truly are. That’s not the Ally I fell in love with.”

_That’s not the Ally I fell in love with._

Those words hit me hard, like I was shot in the heart with a gun. Lidelle was right, I truly am a special person. I’ve got tons of friends, a girlfriend I truly love, and most importantly, a twin sister that I can relate to. But I was blinded. Blinded by jealousy. For literally no reason other to be just as powerful of a mage as Rafisol. But Lidelle managed to open my eyes, and made me realize that I’m just as amazing too. This, and many other reasons, is why I love her.

I returned Lidelle’s hug by wrapping my arms around her waist as tight as she was doing to me. And we eventually shared a kiss together as well.

“Well, do you finally get it now, Ally?”

“Yes, Ami. I get it. All thanks to Lidelle here.”

“Well, I’m glad I was able to help…idiot.” Lidelle said.

“What? You mean after all that, I’m still an idiot?”

“Well, no. It’s just I like seeing you react to it.”

“Really? Now you’re teasing me?”

“Sorry. It’s just so fun.”

“I know it is…Rita.”

“ **D-Don’t call me Rita! It’s bad enough Chu calls me that!** ”

“Sorry. It’s just so fun.”

“J-Jerk.” Lidelle pouted in a cute way.

We then heard Ami’s phone ring and she answered it. It sounded like Melody was on the other line.

“Yeah, Mom? Yeah, Ally’s home. Yeah I gave her the letter. Wait, that was **today**?! You’re almost here?! Geez, Mom! Stop with these surprises! Okay we’ll meet you outside. Bye.” She then hung up the phone.

“What did Melody say, Ami?” Raffina asked.

“Um, well…Ally…apparently, Mom went to go pick up Rafisol from the train station. There a few minutes away.”

“…”

It took me a while to hear that sentence right. I honestly thought I misheard her.

But I didn’t.

“ **Wh-What?! S-She’s coming TODAY?!** ” I shouted.

“You can blame Mom for not telling us.”

“Damn it, Melody.” I said while facepalming my head.

“Well, at least we get to meet your twin sister.” Raffina claimed.

“Yeah, I’m curious too.” Peruvis added. “Despite being under your spell earlier.”

“Heheheh. Sorry about that.” I said.

“I want to meet her, too! Maybe she can teach me some of her own spells.” Arle said.

“A soulless entity…I could use such power for my charms. And with Ally’s power, **ALL OF LEMRES’ LOVE WILL BE MINE! _FUFUFUFUFUFU!!!_** ”

“Feli…” Raffina nudged her on the shoulder.

“ _R-Right. Sorry._ ”

“So you all want to meet her?” I asked. Everyone nodded yes and that made me accept it.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

We all went outside the house and waited not too long for Melody to pull up the driveway. She came out the car and waved at us and we waved back.

“ _Hey, Ally! Look who I brought…_ ” Melody said.

Immediately afterwards, the front passenger door opened  and revealed the one person I haven’t seen in the past couple months. She wore a light-purple hoodie jacket with light-blue stripes running across the sleeves and the outside of the jacket, while the inside had some light-blue as well. Her black shorts also had light- blue stripes running across the sides, while her sneakers were a mix of white and purple. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her light-blue hair and her crimson-red eyes, that I nearly cried when I saw her. But I held them in.

Because there she stood…well, _floated_.

My twin sister, Rafisol.

“Hey, Rafisol. Long time no see.” I greeted her.

Rafisol starred at me for a second, then grew a small smile on her face.

“ _Onee-chan._ ” She said with an emotionless tone.

“Onee-chan?” Five of the six girls behind me repeated.

“Geez, Sis. I keep telling you we’re the same age. You don’t need to call me that.”

“ _But I like calling you Onee-chan, Onee-chan._ ”

“ _sigh._ It’s okay, Sis.” I said. Then I gave Rafisol a hug and gave one back. “I’m just glad you’re here.”

“ _Really? You’re not mad at me anymore, Onee-chan?_ ”

“No, Sis. I’m not. It was wrong of me to be mad at you. There’s no way you could’ve decided to be better than me on your own. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

“ _You could never hurt me, Onee-chan. I will always love you._ ”

“I will always love you too, Sis.”

That’s when the tears started falling. I then let Rafisol go in order to wipe my face.

“Hey, Rafisol. It’s good to see you again.” Ami greeted her.

“ _Ami._ ” Rafisol said while giving her a hug. While doing so, both ended up floating a bit off the ground.

“Uh hey, Rafisol. You can put me down now.”

“ _Oops. Sorry, Ami._ ” Rafisol then placed Ami down and let go of her.

“Did you get taller, or are you just floating higher?”

Rafisol thought about this for a second. I guess she never really bothered to give it any thought.

“ _Probably both._ ”

“Ah, I see.”

“Hey, Sis.” I gained her attention again. “These are some of our friends. When I told them about you, they really wanted to meet you.”

“ _Meet me?_ ”

“Yep. You’ve gained popularity before even showing up.”

“ _Wow._ ”

“First off, the girl with the orange hair is Arle. She lives with us after coming from a different world.” Ami started off.

“Hiya, Rafisol. Nice to meet you.” Arle said.

Rafisol gave a slight nod of acknowledgement.

“The girl with the black horns sticking out from her head is Peruvis.” I said. “She’s a tortured soul, and even has a spirit living inside her.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Rafisol.” Peruvis said. “I hope we could be great friends.”

“Emphasis on the word _hope_.” Phoenix appeared and added.

“ **Phoenix!** ”

“What? I’m only telling the truth. You know how much of a difficult brat you are.” Phoenix grinned at the end.

“ **Damn you, you lifeless wisp!!!** ”

As Peruvis bickered at Phoenix, Rafisol started giggling next to me. Because of her monotone, people often think her laughing is scary. But people like me, Ami, and Melody have gotten used to it.

“ _Onee-chan. Your friend is funny._ ”

“Eh…I wouldn’t say she’s funny. Interesting, maybe.”

“Anyway, the girl with the purple hair is Feli. She’s cousins with the pink-haired girl named Raffina.” Ami continued.

“A soulless being. It’s even better up close! I can sense her unlimited power! Please! You must share some with me! **SO THAT I CAN CONQUER MY TRUE LOVER’S HEART!** ” Feli got excited again.

“Feli…” Raffina nudged her on the shoulder again.

“ _S-Sorry._ ”

“Sorry about my cousin. She makes charms as a hobby and can get a little carried away sometimes.”

“ _It’s okay._ ” Rafisol said.

“And here’s one more thing about her, Rafisol.” Ami added. “Raffina’s my girlfriend.”

“ _Your girlfriend? You like girls, Ami?_ ”

“Yeah, I do. It’s a long story on how I came to realize it.”

“ _I see._ ”

“And I’m not the only one either, you know.”

“ _Huh?_ ”

Ami then looked towards me as she and Raffina gave me thumbs up of encouragement.

**_*sigh*_ ** _Here goes nothing, I guess._

I walked over to where Lidelle was at, stood next to her and held her hand.

“Hey, Sis. I’d like you to meet someone. This is Lidelle…my girlfriend.”

“ _Your girlfriend? Onee-chan, you’re…_ ”

“Yep. I’m gay.”

Rafisol didn’t say anything. I didn’t know how she would take it, having a sister who’s into girls. But then she came towards me and gave me a hug. Needless to say, I was confused.

“ _It’s okay, Onee-chan. I already knew._ ”

“ **Wait, what?! You knew?!** ”

Rafisol did a small nod of confirmation.

“How?”

“ _I figured so because you would say “let’s fall in love!” to all of our female friends without a care in the world._ ”

“Th-Those were accidents, Sis!” I started blushing out of embarrassment. “They never meant anything like that!”

“ _Oh._ ”

“ _sigh._ Well, at least you’re okay with it.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Rafisol. You and Ally really do look alike, aside from your light-blue hair I mean.” Lidelle said.

“ _It’s nice to meet you too, Onee-chan’s girlfriend._ ”

“You can just call me Lidelle.”

“ _Okay, Lidelle._ ”

“There are plenty others to meet here, too. Nut I’m not sure if you’ll see them all in time before you go back home.” I said.

“ _Go home?_ ” Rafisol looked confused.

“You’re just visiting, right?”

“ _Didn’t Mom tell you? I live here now._ ”

“ **S-Seriously?! What happened?! Is Mom okay?!** ”

“Your mom’s fine, Ally.” Melody claimed. “Apparently, she had to leave the country for something work-related. So she asked me if I could take Rafisol in.”

“I see. Well then welcome home, Sis! Let’s have lots of fun together!”

“ _Thank you, Onee-chan. I wish to have fun with you too._ ”

 

We all went inside the house and showed Rafisol around, which wasn’t much, since we don’t usually leave the living room because of not having any furniture. We really need to get some soon. I can’t handle being on the floor anymore.

Later in the day, everyone went home, even Lidelle. We agreed that it’s best if I stay here and help Rafisol out a bit more. Just in case she needed it.

While Melody went to go get dinner (with Ami claiming that she’s too lazy to cook), Me, Ami, Arle, and Rafisol decided to take a bath together to save time and water.

“ ** _*whine*_** _Onee-chan! It’s too soapy!_ ” Rafisol whined while I was washing her hair.

“Quit whining, Sis. You know we need this much soap for how big our hair is.”

“ _Yeah, but it’s gonna get in my eye._ ”

“Then I’ll wipe it when we get out. Now keep still.”

“ _Okay_.”

“Wow you really are a big sister aren’t you, Ally?” Arle asked me while watching the whole thing.

“Well, one of us has to.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you see…Rafisol’s not that… _aware_ …of her surroundings, which is why she relies on Ally a lot.” Ami explained.

“Hence why she calls me Onee-chan.” I added.

“I see. Well it’s a cute nickname.”

“It maybe cute, but she’s gonna have to tone it down a bit once we start school, okay Sis?”

“ _Okay, Onee-chan._ ”

“Oh yeah. School is coming up, isn’t it?” Ami asked. “I can’t believe we’re going to be high schoolers.”

“I know right? So exciting!”

“Gee, you guys are lucky. I wish I could go to high school.” Arle said.

“What do you mean, Arle? You’re 16, right?”

“Yeah, but I kinda skipped a few grades. And it wasn’t because of good scores either.”

“How many did you skip?” Ami asked.

Arle thought about it for a moment. She dipped her hands in the bath water, making us assume she was using them to count how many.

“Like…9 of them.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Arle… **You skipped 9 grades?!** ” Ami shouted.

“ **How the hell did you managed to do that?!** ” I asked, just as shocked as Ami. Rafisol was shocked too, but if you looked at her face right now, you wouldn’t be able to tell.

“Well, back in my world, I have to deal with a bunch of crazy things. They all started when I was in kindergarten. And they became so frequent, that I never got the chance to go back to school.”

“ _Wow…since kindergarten?_ ” Rafisol asked.

“That sucks.” I said.

“Yeah, it does. And I’ve heard that high school’s the best years of your school life. But I don’t think I could go with all the time I’ve missed.”

“Well…maybe I can ask Ms. Accord for some help.” Ami suggested.

“Ms. Accord? Who’s that again?”

“The blue haired lady from the festival. She’s friends with my mom and used to be our teacher.”

“Oh yeah. I remember. Can she really help?”

“Sure she can! She wouldn’t let her favorite students down!”

“Weren’t we her **_only_** students?” I asked.

“Well, yeah. But my point is she’ll definitely help us out! We can go see her tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Ami! That really makes me happy!” Arle cheered.

“No problem, Arle. We are friends, after all.”

“That’s true, Ami.” I said. Then an idea hit me in the head like I was slapped in the back of it with a dead tuna fish for comedic purposes. It’s funnier it you saw it yourself.

“Hey, guys! We all should do something together before school starts! It’ll be like one last summer fling to end off our vacation!”

“That’s a great idea, Ally!” Ami cheered.

“Yeah, I’m in too!” Arle added. “But where should we go?”

“Not another amusement park. It’ll be boing for me and Raffi.”

“Then what then?” I asked.

“ _Beach._ ”

“Huh? You say something, Sis?”

“ _Let’s go to the beach._ ”

“The beach, huh? Not a bad idea.” Ami said.

“The beach sounds fun.” Arle agreed.

“Yeah, it does. Nice suggestion, Sis!”

“ _Thanks, Onee-chan._ ”

“But we’re gonna need some money to afford the things we need.”

“We’ll have to get jobs so that everyone can pitch in.” Ami added.

“Do we know anyone that’s hiring?” Arle asked.

“Not that I know of. We’ll have to go out and look ourselves.”

“Well, it shouldn’t be that hard. People know us around here.” I said.

“Yeah, true.”

“Speaking of _getting out_ , how long have we been in here?” Arle asked.

“It’s been a while hasn’t it? We should probably get out now.”

“Yeah, you’re right Ami. Ready, Sis?”

 Rafisol did a small nod of confirmation.

Around the time we all came out the bathroom, Melody had come back with a couple boxes of pizza. We ate some while watching a movie on Melody’s computer, which Rafisol somehow managed to put the screen on the wall so we wouldn’t have to crouch around each other to see. When I asked how she did that, she said she really didn’t know. I just happened to her one time and she remembered about it just recently.

I don’t remember finishing the movie. Maybe it’s because I fell asleep mid-way through. But what I do remember is waking up in the middle of the night to see Rafisol sleeping in my futon with me. She has her own, but even back home, she tends to climb into my bed in the middle of the night.

Normally I’ll be waking her up to tell her to go back to her own bed, but this time I decided to let this one sly. We haven’t seen each other in a long time and I bet she just wants to be near me more. I wrapped the covers over her more and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek when she started moving a bit.

“ _Onee-chan. I love you._ ” She mumbled in her sleep.

I giggled a bit before lying back down in my futon and pulling the covers over me and resting my head on my pillow.

“Onee-chan loves you too, Sis.” I whispered to myself before closing my eyes and going to sleep.


	18. Ms. Accord's Surprise Summer Exam

**Arle’s POV**

 

Just like how Amitie promised, the next day we went to her and Ally’s old school to ask their old teacher if she could help me get into high school. The building itself was just as weird-looking as the other buildings in Primp, but it was much bigger, as you would expected from a school building.

“So this is your old school, huh guys? It’s pretty big.”

“Well, not really.” Amitie said. “It may look big on the outside, but it’s quite small on the inside.”

“Huh.”

“ _Onee-chan. This is the school you went to?_ ” Rafisol asked Ally.

“Yeah, but I was only here for like a month or so. It was near the end of the year when I transferred here.”

“ _Wow. Onee-chan’s school…_ ” Rafisol looked as amazed as if she saw a shooting star in the sky.

“It’s not _that_ amazing, Sis.” Ally said while patting her on the shoulder.

“So you sure Ms. Accord can help me, Amitie?”

“Arle. Quit worrying. I told you, Ms. Accord would find a way. Even in a situation like yours.”

“Well okay, but…”

“Hey. Guys.”

I was interrupted when heard a voice call out to us. We then saw Raffina, Feli, Klug, and Peruvis heading towards us.

“Hey, everyone! Glad you could make it!” Amitie said.

“Huh? Make it for what?” I asked.

“I have to register Feli for the school year.” Raffina said.

“And I have to help Peruvis with her transfer papers.” Klug added.

“I see.”

“Geez. You’re lucky, Arle! Skipping 9 school years! You’re world must be crazy as hell!” Peruvis said.

“Trust me, Peruvis. You don’t know the half of it.”

“Hey, guys! Sorry we’re late!”

Our original group of four turned to see Lidelle, her cousin Ringo, Rulue and Harpy heading towards us…

_Wait, why are Rulue and Harpy here?_

“There you guys are!” Ally cheered. “I understand your house is far, Lidelle, but you still took forever!”

“Well, **_sorry!_** You’re the one who wanted Harpy here for some reason.” Lidelle said.

“ **ALLY!** ”

“ **HARPY!** ”

The two greeted each as they always did and, just like last time, they managed to start going too high to the point Amitie had to pull them down.

_These two really are good friends, huh?_

“I’m really glad to see you, Ally! You too, Al-

Harpy suddenly stopped talking once see saw Ally and Rafisol standing next each other.

“ **W-WAIT, WHAT?! TH-THERE ARE TWO ALLY’S?! I’M SO CONFUSED! MY HEAD HURTS! _OWIE!_** ”

“H-Harpy, calm down! I can explain!” Ally said, trying to calm her down. Once she got Harpy to calm down a bit, she continued.

“This is my twin sister, Rafisol. She just moved here yesterday.”

“ _Ohhhh._ I get it now! Nice to meet ya! Name’s Harpy!”

Rafisol starred at Harpy a bit before answering.

“ _You’re Onee-chan’s friend as well?_ ”

“Who’s Onee-chan?”

“That’s a nickname she calls me because we’re sisters.”

“ _Ohhhh._ Well, then yes. I’m Ally’s bestest friend!”

“ _I see. Can you be my bestest friend, too?_ ”

“Sure! You can never have more than one best friend!”

“ _I’m glad. Thank you, Harpy-oneechan._ ”

“J-Just Harpy is fine, Sis.” Ally said, patting her on the shoulder again.

“Huh. I didn’t think you had a twin sister, Ally.” Klug said.

“Yeah, it was a surprise to pretty much everyone. Along with the fact that Rafisol doesn’t have a soul and that we’re both mages.”

“Uh…what?”

“It’s a long story.” Amitie explained.

“I see.”

“So this is your old school, huh Lidelle?” Ringo asked.

“It’s pretty big, despite there being only a few students.” Rulue said.

“It may look big, but it really isn’t.” Lidelle claimed.

“Huh.” Both girls said.

“So what made you want to tag along, Rulue?” I asked.

“I just wanted to see Harmony.”

“Harmony?”

“Ms. Accord’s first name.” Amitie explained.

“Oh.”

“Now that everyone’s here, let’s go inside.”

“Come on, you two! I’ll give you a tour of the whole place!” Ally said to Harpy and Rafisol.

“Yay! I get to see Ally’s school!”

“ _Yay! I get to see Onee-chan’s school!_ ”

_Oh, yeah. This will be the first time I’ve stepped foot into a school since kindergarten. I hope I can handle it._

 

We all entered the school walked down the hallways to the office Ms. Accord was supposed to be in. And for the five people who’ve been here, it was like a trip down memory lane. They kept reminiscing all the fun times they had here.

“Remember that time where we tried to make that cake for the school fair?” Amitie asked.

“Yeah. That didn’t end well.” Raffina said.

“What are you talking about, Raffina? I had a great time making it!” Ally cheered.

“Ally, cakes aren’t suppose to explode.” Lidelle retorted.

“You put **_way_** too must yeast in it.” Raffina claimed.

“Well, I was growing impatient with how Klug was getting the ingredient amounts.”

“Hey! You need precise amounts to make a cake. I was almost done when you decided to just dump everything in the bowl.” Klug said.

“Okay, fine. I admit, I should’ve waited a bit more. But it was still fun right?”

“Yeah, it was. I really miss this place.” Amitie said.

“Me too, Ami.” Raffina agreed.

After a while, I was starting to get annoyed by it, or it was maybe jealousy. One of the two. The point is, I didn’t want to hear it anymore and needed a way to get out of it. That’s when I thought of something.

“Hey, guys. Where’s the restroom? I really have to go.”

“Oh, it’s down that hall then make a left.” Raffina said.

“Okay, thanks.”

“We’ll wait for you here, Arle.” Amitie said.

“Alright.”

As I walked down the long hallway, I looked at the walls that I was passing by. There were tons of photos of the students who went to this school. Some of Amitie, Raffina, Lidelle, Klug, and Ally as a group. Some by themselves, and some with certain pairs. But there was a specific picture that caught my eye. It was a big one with all five of them, a couple teachers, and a bunch of other students.

“Oh. This must be the end of year photo.”

I took a big long look at it. They all looked so happy, despite it being their last day. It looked so much fun, being around your friends and teachers during the last few days before leaving the one place you gained so much memories from.

…

“Wow, that sounded depressing. I gonna continue walking before I start to cry.”

Once I continued walking down the hallway, I found the area where Raffina told me to turn left at. I didn’t really have to use the restroom, but I might as well continue to look around this place.

As I turned the corner, I was still lost in my own thought of how amazing school life must’ve been, and I ended up bumping into someone. When I opened my eyes back up, I saw someone I didn’t expect to see here of all places.

“Sig?”

“Arle?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I heard that I can come here to register me and Chu for the school year.”

“You don’t say? I’m here for the same reason.”

“Really?”

“Amitie told me that her old teacher can help me with a little problem I have.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Well…”

Just then, I heard a flushing sound coming from the room behind Sig. The door to said room opened and out came Chu, drying her hands on her sweater.

“Shigu, I’m finished.” She said.

“Hey, Chu.” I greeted her.

“Aruru!”

Chu ran up to me and gave me a big hug. She been doing that a lot lately. Not sure why, but it doesn’t really bother me that much.

“So you’re starting school too, huh Chu?”

“Yep! I’m so excited to be in the same school as Shigu!”

“The same school? Sig, you’re 16, right?”

“Yeah.” He answered.

“So you and Chu are starting high school? I thought Chu was 10.”

“She is. But she’s also very smart. When she completed 4th grade, the school officials agreed that she’s smart enough to go straight to high school.”

“Woah…that’s amazing, Chu! Good for you!”

“Thank you, Aruru.”

“You know, in a way, I…skipped a couple grades myself.”

“Really?! How?!”

“Well…I kinda had to stop a bunch of crazy monsters from causing havoc in my world…when I was 6.”

“S-Six?!” Sig reacted.

“Yeah, my world is not normal at all. It was such a constant thing, that I never went back to school after kindergarten.”

“Since kindergarten?!”

“Yeah. Pretty much. And so when Amitie told me that her teacher maybe able to help me, I got really excited. But as I walked down these halls, hearing how she and the others had a fun time here and seeing pictures to prove it, it made me realize that pretty much my whole childhood was taken away from me because of a bunch of crazy freaks. I really want my school girl life back, you know?” I starting crying a little from telling that story of my past.

Sig didn’t say anything. He just starred at me with that emotionless look on his face. I thought he had fallen asleep with his eyes open again. I was about to shake him in an attempt to wake him up, when…out of nowhere…

…

…

…he…hugged me.

My face immediately started turning red from embarrassment as I felt his body touching mine, his arms around my waist, and his head next to mine.

“ **S-S-Sig! Wh-Wh-What are you…** ”

“It’s okay, Arle.” Was all he said.

It was all he said, but for some reason, those three words hit me in the gut hard like someone had punched it. I felt my heart beating like crazy, almost like I was having a heart attack. Tears kept running down my face, but they weren’t tears of sorrow. Instead, they were…tears of happiness. I was completely happy right now. I’ve never felt this happy since the whole Dimensional Mirror thing. And it was all thanks to Sig. Being with him right here right now really made me happy. It gave me this new feeling for him. It’s a weird one, but…I also like it. I like it a lot.

_Could this what the others meant by me noticing…it._

“O-Okay, S-Sig. I-I feel better now.”

“O-Oh. O-Okay.”

Sig let me go and as I looked at him, I saw that his face was all red too. Did he get the same weird new feeling as I did? It would be great if he did. It’ll be another thing we have in common.

“I-I’m glad…y-you’re feeling better…A-Arle.”

“Y-Yeah. Th-Thanks for that…S-Sig.”

…

The atmosphere went silent for a while.

…

_So awkward._

“Shigu. Aruru.”

_H-Holy crap! I completely forgot Chu was here! I hope she didn’t noticed my weird new feeling!_

“Y-Yeah, Chu?” We both asked.

“We’re going to be late.”

“Oh, yeah. We have to see if we could get registered.” Sig said.

“ _Right._ I kinda left Amitie and the others hanging for a while. They’re probably going to be mad at me.”

“Hey, can we come and ask them? We don’t know the layout of this school.”

“ **Sure!** ” I shouted elatedly, but then managed to calm down. “I-I mean okay. Hopefully, they’ll understand a bit more once they see you guys.”

“Aruru.”

“Yeah, Chu? What’s up?”

“Can you not tell the others how smart I am? At least not yet?”

“Not yet?” I got confused.

“Chu wants to reveal her high intelligence as a surprise to everyone else.” Sig explained.

“I see. I didn’t know you were so devious, Chu.”

“Yeah. She’s a sneaky little sister.”

Chu giggled to herself as her brother rubbed her hair.

“Alright. I think we’ve kept them waiting long enough. Let’s get going.”

“Right. Come on, Chu.”

“ _Chu!_ ”

We went back the way I came from and met up with the others. And just as I predicted, they were pretty upset.

“ **Geez, Arle! What took you so long?!** ” Amitie asked.

“ **Did you had to go that badly?!** ” Raffina asked.

“W-Well, to be honest…no.”

“ **Arle!** ”

“I’m sorry! It’s just…well…” I didn’t know how to explain it. I mean, I can’t just tell them that I found their school memories annoying and got me jealous. But I kinda don’t want to tell them what happened between me and Sig just few minutes ago. What do I say?!

“She’s had it rough.” Sig said, finally catching up to me. Chu was right beside him holding his hand.

“Huh? Sig and Chu?” Amitie said.

“Hey, everyone.”

“Hey there, uh…” Chu only acknowledged the people whose names she “remembered”.

“…Amytee. Waffine. Rita. Ally. Harpy. Peridi. Ringo.”

“ _Amytee?_ ” Rafisol asked.

“Waffine?” Feli asked.

“Rita?” Rulue asked.

“Peridi?” Klug asked.

“Chu has a hard time with names.” I explained. “She remembers a slight variant of people’s names.”

“ **And we hate those names SO much!** ” The four girls said.

“Well, there’s nothing you guys can do about it.”

“You’re only saying that because you got used to her calling you Aruru!” Lidelle wined.

“Which by the way, how?!” Peruvis asked.

“I just don’t let it bother me that much.”

“Well that, and Satan kept calling you that.” Rulue added.

“Well, yeah. That too.”

“Anyway, what are you two doing here?” Raffina asked.

“Need to register for school.” Sig answered.

“You _and_ Chu.” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah. We just don’t know where to go.”

“Well, you guys can tag along with us. We were on our way to visit someone who could help us.” Ally said.

“Okay, sure.”

As we made our way to this office, I walked next to Sig…and was blushing during the whole walk there. I kept trying to get a good look at him, but I struggled extensively because every time I moved my head an inch towards him, my blushed face would get darker. But I did managed to glare my eyes at him…and saw that Sig was blushing as well. I’ve rarely seen him blush since the day we’ve met. I…actually find it cute. Then again, everything about him is cute…

_Wait, what am I saying?! Do I really mean that?!_

_…_

_…_

_…Yeah. I kinda do._

 

***KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK***

“Yes? Come in.”

“ **HI, MS. ACCORD!!!** ”

“Oh my! This is a surprise! Come in, everyone!”

We all entered the surprisingly space-ish office, with Amitie and Lidelle running up to hug Ms. Accord.

“It’s really good to see you, Ms. Accord!” Amitie cheered.

“We really miss you, Teacher!” Lidelle cheered with her.

“ ***giggle*** It’s nice to see you kiddies again, too.”

“Geez, Ami. You’re so excited to see Harmony that you didn’t even acknowledge your own mother.”

“Huh? Mom, what are you doing here?”

“Harmony wanted to see my light novel once it got published, so I managed to get a copy before it went on sale.”

“I see… **Wait, your book got published?!** ”

“Yep! You’re now looking at an official author!”

“And I have to admit, Melody. This is a really good book.” Ms. Accord added.

“Thanks, Harm! Hey, Rulue! Wanna read my masterpiece?”

“Well, it depends.” Rulue said. “It isn’t that magical girl stuff you wrote during high school, is it?”

“ **Tch.** ” All of a sudden, Melody froze up a bit.

“Oh, yeah. You did used to write that stuff all throughout high school.”

“Whoa. Mom, you like magical girls?” Amitie asked.

“W-Well…I used to.” Melody was rubbing the back of her head from a little embarrassment. “But I grew out of it.”

“ _Aw._ Too cute!”

“Lay off, Ami!”

“Fine, fine.”

“So what brings you all here?” Ms. Accord asked.

“Well, we have to sign up a bunch of new people for the upcoming school year, and we were hoping you can help.”

“I see. Well, who do we got?”

“My cousin, Feli.” Raffina said.

“W-Woah. S-Such power! It’s overflowing this area like crazy! **Such power could make my charms work tenfold! I could finally make myself look more mature! _Fufufufu!_** ”

“Feli, calm down.”

“Wow. What a weird, cute little loli.” Melody said.

“ _I’m not a loli!”_ Feli whined.

“Really? But you look a lot like one.”

“ _But I’m not a loli!_ ”

“She’s not a loli, Melody. She really hates being called that.” Raffina explained.

“Oh, I see. Well, okay then. Not gonna push it anymore.”

“ _Th-Thanks, Raffina._ ” Feli said.

“ ***giggle*** Well, it’s nice to meet you, Feli.” Ms. Accord said.

“ _S-Same to you._ ”

“So, Klug. I see you brought Peruvis with you. Is she planning to stay in school this time?”

“This time?” Amitie asked.

“Peruvis moved away, remember? Because of that feud we had?” Raffina explained.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Yes, Ms. Accord. I plan to stay in school this time.” Peruvis answered.

“And you’ll be on your best behavior over there, right?”

“I highly doubt that, Teach.”

“ **SHUT UP, PHOENIX!** ”

“So you’re still have Phoenix, _meow_?” Popoi asked.

“Well, yeah. I am a tortured soul, so I am stuck with him.”

“ **What do mean _stuck with me_?!** **I’m the one keep you alive!** ”

“Yes, but you’re also annoying!”

“ **Hmph.** Little brat.”

“Why I oughta…”

“This is what me and my mom go through every day.” Klug said, sounding a little annoyed.

“I see.” Ms. Accord said.

“Hey, Ms. Accord. This is my twin sister, Rafisol. She moved here yesterday.” Ally said.

“ _Woah. Onee-chan’s teacher._ ”

“Onee-chan?”

“It’s a nickname she calls me.”

“I see. Well, it’s nice to meet you, Rafisol.”

“ _It’s nice to meet you too, Onee-chan’s teacher._ ”

“S-Sis. Just call her Ms. Accord.”

“Ms. Accord, you remember Arle, right? From the festival?” Amitie asked.

“Ah, yes. I do remember see her. You want to register as well?”

“U-Uh. Y-Yeah. B-But I have a feeling I can’t.”

“Why ever not? Everyone should try getting a better education.”

“Well, yeah. But…”

In case you couldn’t tell, I was nervous as hell at this point. I had a whole bunch of “what if” questions flowing through my head. What if there’s no hope for me? What if Sig goes on without me? What if he finds someone else to be friends with? I couldn’t bare having the third happened, let alone all of them!”

“You see, Teacher…Arle has admitted to skipping a couple of grades.” Lidelle explained.

“Really? How much?”

“U-Um…w-well…” I was still terrified.

“She skipped 9 of them.” Raffina answered for me.

“Oh my! 9 of them?! How on earth did that happened?”

“W-Well…l-let’s just say my world is not normal.”

“I see. And these other three are joining, I assume?”

“Yeah. This is Sig and her sister Chu.”

“Hey.”

“ _Chu!_ ”

“And the angel is named Harpy. She came from Arle’s world too.” Ally said.

“Well, nice to meet you three. It’s nice that you’re wanting to further your education.”

“Wait, what?” Harpy sounded confused. “I never said I wanted to do this.”

“Huh?! Why not Harpy?!” Ally asked.

“This school thing sounds really hard! I don’t wanna do it!”

“But don’t you want to be in a classroom with me? We’ll have so much fun together!”

“Really? Lots of fun?”

“Not even lots. **Tons** of fun!”

“ **Tons of fun?!** ”

“You bet!”

“ **Then I’ll do it! If there’s going to be tons of fun, then I wanna go to this school thing!** ”

“ **Yay!** ”

Ally hugged Harpy and the two, once again, floated too high to the point Rulue had to pull them down.

“So it’s just these 7, right?” Ms. Accord asked.

“Yep.” Amitie said. “But it’s mainly Arle we’re worried about.”

“I see. Well, Arle. Due to your situation…”

_Oh boy. Here it comes. The rejection._

“…there is a way you can get into high school.”

_Ah, I knew it!_

_…_

_Wait, what?_

“S-Seriously?! I have a chance?!”

“Indeed. You just need to pass an exam that proves you’re ready.”

“A test?! B-But I didn’t even study?!”

“Don’t worry. You don’t need to. This is an exam that transfer students must take. So the rest of you have to take it as well.”

“And this is the only way?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“ _sigh._ I see.”

“Don’t worry, Arle. You’ll do fine.” Amitie said to me.

“Yeah. We know you can do it.” Raffina said.

“You’ll pass for sure.” Lidelle added.

“Th-Thanks, everyone.”

“Now then. I’ll just call my assistant to bring the exam over to the classroom.”

“You have an assistant, Ms. Accord?” Klug asked.

“Indeed, _meow_. He was just hired yesterday.” Popoi said.

“Can we meet him?” Raffina asked.

“Oh, I’m sure some of you already know him.”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” Amitie asked.

“You’ll see.”

 

As we made our way to the classroom for this exam (that I’m still worried about), Amitie, Raffina, Lidelle, Ally, and Klug were trying to figure out who Ms. Accord’s new assistant was. After multiple guesses, they came up with nothing.

When we reached this classroom, Ms. Accord opened the door to reveal a big round guy standing inside. I didn’t know who this guy was and neither did Ally, but the others did. Especially Lidelle, who had the biggest grin on her face.

“T…

T…

T…

 **TARUTARU!!!!** ” Lidelle shouted as she ran up to hug the guy.

“Hey, Lidelle. Nice to see you again.”

“When did you get back into town?” Amitie asked.

“Yesterday, to be honest.”

“Wait, so you mean…”

“Yep.” Ms. Accord interrupted. “Tarutaru is my new assistant.”

“But wait, doesn’t he need to finish school first?” Klug asked.

“Well, there’s been an exception. Since I know about these supernatural things, such as the Puyo Hats, I’ve been hired to help out in finding out the secrets of such things.”

“Woah. That’s some job.” Klug sounded impressed.

“Well, we’re just glad to have you back.” Raffina said.

“Thanks a lot, Raffina. It’s good to be back.”

“Well, we can catch up on missed times later, after the exam is complete.” Ms. Accord said.

“All non-test takers please leave the room, _meow._ ” Popoi added.

Ally had to pull Lidelle off of Tarutaru, as she was still hugging him throughout the whole conversation.

“Good luck you guys.” Amitie said.

“Thanks, you guys.” I said as they closed the door behind them.

“Now then.” Ms. Accord continued. “This exam will test your readiness for the material you’ll learn in your first year of high school. Please take your time and don’t rush. You’re final score will determine if you’re ready to move up. Are you all ready?”

“Yep.” Both Feli and Peruvis said.

“You betcha!” Harpy cheered.

“Ready.” Chu said.

Rafisol did a small nod of confirmation.

I was still unsure about this. I was about to raise my hand and ask to quit when Sig tapped me on the shoulder.

“You’re going to be okay, Arle?” He asked.

“Y-Yeah. I’ll be okay. Thanks for asking, Sig. Let’s both do our best, okay?”

“Right.”

We both smiled at each other to the point where we both got embarrassed and turned away from each other.

“We’re ready.” We both said.

“Alright. Let’s get started.”

Once Ms. Accord passed out the exam, I starred at it with a focused mindset and prepared to read the first question.

_Okay, Arle! You can do this! You can pass this test! Do it for Sig! Just calm down, breath, and focus! Now…what’s the first question?_

**_Question 1: How curious is bi-curious?_ **

_…_

_Okay….that’s a weird question to ask. I’ll just skip it and come back to it. Next question._

**_Question 2: Is pumpernickel bread racist?_ **

_What?! That doesn’t even make sense! And what’s pumpernickel?! Whatever. Next question._

**_Question 3: If Ray-Ray come along these parts looking for me, you don’t go dropping a dime. Do yous?_ **

_What the hell is with these questions?!_

I was going to raise my hand and get Ms. Accord’s attention, but Peruvis beat me to it.

“Uh…Ms. Accord. What’s with these questions? They seem…kinda weird.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Ms. Accord looked over the questions and just like the rest of us, she was really confused.

“What in the world?!”

Just then, the door opened and Melody popped her head inside.

“Uh…hey, Harm. You got a minute?”

“What is it, Melody?”

“Well…it’s just…I think you got the wrong paper.”

“I see. So you wrote these weird questions. How on earth did you come up with these?”

“Yeah, Ally’s got me watching this favorite show of hers. It’s actually pretty funny.”

The room went silent for a bit. I wasn’t sure was everyone else was thinking, but I was kinda relieved that high school’s not as messed up as these questions.

“ _sigh._ Geez, Melody.” Ms. Accord said.

“Sometimes I wonder how even you managed to graduate, _meow_.” Popoi added.

“H-Hey!” Melody sounded insulted.

Once the real exam was given out, I felt a tad bit more confidence run inside me and I managed to start answering the questions one by one.

_Alright! I’m doing this so me and Sig can be in high school together! I will pass this exam!_

_Otherwise…this weird new feeling will be the death of me._


	19. A Normal 10-year-old / The Plan Unfolds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is considered as two chapters in one.

**Sig’s POV**

 

That test thing wasn’t that hard. It was kinda easy. So me and Chu waited outside the classroom for the others to finish. I was actually surprised I got through it, though…with **_that_** bothering me.

What I mean by that is…this weird feeling I gained just recently. Around the time I was talking to Arle about school, and she mentioned how she hasn’t been to school in 11 years. She sounded really about it, and looked sad too. She was even crying. I didn’t like seeing her that way, so I did something without thinking…which is a common thing I do.

_I should learn to not do that._

What I did was…I hugged her. I hugged Arle and told her it was okay. It may sound normal to most people, but with me…it’s not that simple. Arle’s been a real good friend to me, and Chu once told me that she sees Arle as a big sister. I really like her, but when I hugged her at that moment in time, I felt something different towards her. A new feeling or something.

_Is this the “it” the others keep talking about?_

“Shigu…Shigu…”

“ **Hey, Sig!** ”

“H-Huh? Wh-What?”

“You okay, Sig? You were spacing out just now?” Arle asked me.

“You had me scared for a second, Shigu.” Chu added.

“Oh. Sorry. I was just thinking.”

“Of what?” Arle asked.

_What do I say? I can’t tell her that I was thinking of her. That’s just creepy. Think, Sig! Think!_

“Uh…just some bugs that I caught earlier.”

“Oh. I see.” She sounded a little sad while saying that.

“You okay? Did I hurt you or something?”

“Ah, no. I’m fine, really. I-I’m just glad you are too.” Arle started blushing a little after saying the last part.

“O-Oh. O-Okay then.” I started blushing a little as well.

“Shigu. Aruru.”

“Yeah, Chu?” I asked.

“I wanna know the results of the test.”

“Why?” Arle asked. “You already know what you got on it.”

“She wants to see the other’s reactions, remember?”

“Oh yeah. Now I remember. Alright, Chu. Let’s go.”

“Yay!” Chu cheered.

 

It took us a while to find the exit, mainly because we kept getting lost. But we did find it, and met up with everyone else, who were waiting outside for us.

“There you guys are! Did you get lost or something?” Amitie asked us.

“Well, um…yes. Multiple times. This place is just too big.” Arle said.

“How did you guys get used to it?” I asked.

“Easy. We’ve been here most of our lives, so we got used to it’s size.” Raffina answered.

“I see…” Both me and Arle said. We didn’t really get it, but we decided not to question it anymore.

“Okay, everyone.” The teacher said, heading towards us. I forgot her name, but didn’t bother to ask. “I’ve finished grading the high school transfer exam, and I must say… all 7 of you all did well.”

“Wait… _seven_? Did Chu take one by mistake?” Ally asked.

“Teacher, you know Chu’s 10, right?” Lidelle asked.

“Well, yes. But I’ll explain in a second.”

The others looked confused. Which judging by Chu’s small smile, is exactly what she wanted.

“And the results are as followed: Arle and Harpy were tied with a 70, which is the grade you needed to pass.”

“W-Wait…I…passed?” Arle sounded shocked.

“Indeed. Congratulations, Arle.”

“See, Arle! We told you you’ll pass!” Amitie cheered.

“Now you get to experience high school with us!” Raffina added.

“Y-Yeah! I-I do now, don’t I?! **SO COOL!!!** ”

“You hear that, Harpy? You passed! Now we can be in school together!” Ally said to her.

“ **Yay! Now we can have TONS of fun together! I’m super-duper excited!** ”

The two kept cheering while hugging each other until they started going up too high, and Lidelle had to pull them down.

“Next is Rafisol, Feli, Peruvis, and Sig. Who were all tied with an 87.”

“ _Onee-chan. What does 87 mean?_ ” Rafisol asked her sister.

“It means you passed, Sis.”

“ _Really? Yay! I get to go to school with Onee-chan!_ ”

“I’m glad you’re happy, Sis.” Ally said while giving Rafisol a hug. Not sure how that’s possible with her floating.

_Wait, why **is** she floating?_

“Nice work, you guys.” Raffina said to Feli and Peruvis.

“That test was hard, though.” Feli said. “If only I knew the Google Charm. **I’ve could’ve just search for the answers!** ”

“No, Feli. That’s cheating.”

“ _B-But…_ ”

“No!”

“ _Fine._ ” Feli whined.

“An 87, huh? I could’ve done better if Phoenix didn’t bug me the whole time.” Peruvis complained.

“ **Hey, I was only trying to help! You looked hopeless in there!** ” Phoenix said, coming out of her back.

“ **Hopeless?! Who are you calling hopeless, you damn ghost?!** ”

“Guys. Please. Not now.” Klug said.

“Fine, Klug. Whatever.” Peruvis said.

“87. Not too bad, I guess.” I said to myself.

“Yay, Shigu!” Chu cheered while giving me a hug.

“Thanks, Chu.” I patted her on the head.

“Alright, Ms. Accord. Now tell us, what did Chu get?” Raffina asked.

“Well, based on my scoring system…Chu got a perfect score.”

And just as we thought, everyone went silent with shocked looks on their faces. I could hear Chu giggling next to me, and me and Arle were trying to hold ours in.

“ **A PERFECT SCORE?!?!** ” Everyone shouted.

“ **H-How did a 10-year-old get a perfect score on a high school entrance exam?!** ” Lidelle asked.

Then Ms. Accord (I remembered her name now) turned to us three with a grin on her face.

“Chu. You knew you didn’t have to take the test, but did it anyway, right?”

“Yep.” Chu said.

“She just wanted to do it for fun.” I explained.

“You were right about their reactions, Chu.” Arle said.

“Wait, you knew about this, Arle?” Amitie asked.

“A heads up would’ve been nice, you know.” Peruvis said.

“Sorry. When I ran into them in the hall, Chu made me promise not to tell.”

“I never knew you were so sneaky, Chu.” Ally said.

Chu just smiled and giggled a little.

“Wait, aren’t you 10 Chu? Why did you even take the exam in the first place?” Raffina asked.

“I’m going to high school with Shigu!”

“ **What?!** ” Everyone said.

“Chu’s really smart. She’s actually going to high school from the 4th grade.” I explained.

“ **Th-The 4 th grade?!**”

…

“Th-That’s…p-pretty impressive, Chu.” Amitie said.

“Thanks, Amytee.”

Amitie started cringing after hearing that name.

“So Chu’s just as smart as us huh? That’s something.” Klug said.

“Yeah, it is.” Ms. Accord added. “I was especially impressed with the language part. I didn’t think someone could learn that many.”

“That many? Chu, how many languages can you speak?” Arle asked.

“Lots, Aruru.”

“Like…”

Chu thought for a moment, then she tugged on my sleeve to get my attention.

“ _Sore wa hontōni atsuidesu. Watashi wa hontōni nani ka nomu no ni tsukau koto ga dekimashita._ ”

“Uh, what?” Ally asked.

“That’s Japanese for: It's really hot outside. I could really use something to drink.” I said.

“Whoa…”

“ _fuori fa davvero caldo. potrei davvero usare qualcosa da bere_ ”

“That’s the same thing in Italian.”

 “ _il fait vraiment chaud dehors. Je pourrais vraiment utiliser quelque chose à boire._ ”

“That’s French.”

“ _Eínai pragmatiká zestó éxo. tha boroúsa pragmatiká na chrisimopoiíso káti gia na pio._ ”

“That’s Greek.”

“ _está muito quente lá fora. Eu realmente poderia usar algo para beber._ ”

“And that’s Portuguese.”

“Th-That’s insane!” Lidelle said.

“I never thought a girl this young could know that many languages.” Lidelle’s cousin Ringo said.

“You really are smart, Chu! Can you teach me how to do that?” Harpy asked.

“Sure, Harpy.”

“ **Yay!** ”

“Good for you, Harpy. Wanting to learn new languages.” Arle said.

“Yeah, that’s great.” Raffina added. “And you’ll have an easier time when we go to the high school down the road.”

“Oh, yeah. We should get a quick look of it, should we?” Amitie asked.

“Yeah, we should.” Lidelle agreed.

…

…

“Uh…kiddies…” Ms. Accord sounded rather unsure about something.

“You didn’t tell them, Harm?” Amitie’s mom said to her.

“I thought you did, Melody.”

“You mean **both** of you forgot to tell them?” The other woman named Rulue asked.

“We’ve been busy, okay? It just slipped our minds.”

“Wait…tells us what” Ally asked.

“Mom, what did you forget **_this_** time?” Amitie asked.

“What do you mean _this time_?” Her mom sounded insulted.

“Anyway…what we meant to tell you guys is…Primp High School has been shut down.”

…

“ **WHAT?!** ” Amitie, Raffina, Lidelle, Ally, Klug, and Peruvis shouted.

“Is that a bad thing?” I asked Arle.

“Not sure.” She said.

“Hey, Chu. Do you get what’s going on?” Harpy asked her.

“Not really, Harpy.” Chu answered.

“Yes, guys. This is a bad thing.” Lidelle said to us.

“It means that don’t have a school to go to.” Amitie added.

“ _Oh…_ ” The four of us said.

“Well…technically, you still do.” Ms. Accord said.

“Huh?”

“Hey, Ringo. What’s the nearest school from here?” Rulue asked her.

“The nearest school from Primp is…oh. OH! **OH! I GET IT NOW!** ”

“ ** _Ohhoho!_** I knew you would.”

“Get what? What are you two talking about?” Lidelle asked them.

“Guys, listen. The nearest school from Primp Town is the school I’m going to.”

“Wait! You mean…” Ally said.

“Yep! It’s Suzuran High School!”

“Suzuran?! You mean we’re going to the same school Melody, Ms. Accord, Lily, Yumi, and Rulue went to?!” Raffina asked.

“That’s. So. **AWESOME!!!** ” Amitie shouted.

“It that a good thing?” Arle asked me.

“Not sure.” I said.

“Yes, guys. It’s a good thing.” Raffina said.

“You know, Raffina. I think I’m starting to see it now.” Feli said.

“Yeah, me too.” Peruvis added.

“S-See what?!” We both said while blushing a little.

“ _Hey…they’re starting to notice._ ” Ally teased.

“N-Notice what?”

“ ***giggle*** Don’t worry, guys. You’re getting closer to finding out.

Neither one of us knew what they were talking about, but when we looked at each other, we started blushing even more, and quickly turned away from each other.

“ _Aw! So cute!_ ” The five teen girls said.

“Sh-Shut up!” Arle yelled.

I decided to just stay silent.

 

**Arle’s POV**

 

We were all at this burger place near Raffina’s house celebrating not only me and the others passing the exam, but also the fact that we’re going to wherever this Suzuran High School place is. I didn’t want to come because of the teasing earlier, but the other girls didn’t really give me a choice.

I was sitting with Sig, Chu, Harpy, and Klug while the other girls sat at another table. Melody and Rulue stayed with Ms. Accord to read more of Melody’s light novel, so it was just us teens there.

“Woah! This burger is yummy!” Chu said while eating her burger.

“I know, right? This is the best…thing I’ve ever had!” Harpy cheered.

“Yay!”

“Chu, you got meat all over your mouth.” Sig said as he grabbed a napkin and started wiping Chu’s mouth.

“Thank you, Shigu.” Chu said to her brother, who then rubbed her head with his strange red hand.

“You’re a real good brother, Sig.” I said.

“Well…that’s because Chu’s a real good sister.”

Chu then started hugging Sig as a thanks for the compliment.

“Geez, you really are lucky, Sig.” Klug said.

“Huh? What do you mean, Klug?”

Before giving an answer, Klug looked back at the other table with the girls to see that they were busy talking about who knows what. Then he turned back to us.

“Well, to be honest…Peruvis isn’t exactly the _good sister_ type.”

“Really? Like how?” I asked.

“Well…”

“I can explain it perfectly.” Phoenix suddenly appeared next to him with a smug look on his face.

_I didn’t even know he could reach this far._

“Oh, really?” Klug asked. “You’re not worried of what Peruvis would do to you if she finds out you’re bad-mouthing her.”

“ **PFFT!** You kidding? I bad-mouth her all the time. For starters, she’s completely lazy.”

“Yeah, there’s that.”

“She’s pretty much crap at cooking. Almost poisoned the hell out of us.”

“W-Wow.” Harpy said.

“And she’s a total slob. Always leaving her clothes all over her room. I can’t even tell ya how many pairs of panties are on the floor as of this second.”

“Wait, I can understand clothes, but why panties?” I asked.

“Because she’s constantly mast-

“ **PHOENIX!!!** ”

We then heard Peruvis yell across the restaurant, looking extremely pissed.

_How is she now noticing?_

“What? I was just going to tell them that you’re always touch…”

“ **DON’T. YOU. DARE!!!** ”

“ _Ugh._ Fine. Storytime’s over, folks. Be sure to leave a tip for me, kays?”

“Would this dollar do?” Harpy asked holding up a dollar.

“Harpy, please don’t tip him.” Peruvis said.

“Well, whatever. I’m tired anyway. I’m going to sleep.” Phoenix said before going back into her back. Peruvis then slumped back into her chair looking embarrassed of this whole thing.

“It’s okay, Peruvis.” Ally said. “Most teen girls our age do that all the time. It’s natural.”

“Shut up, Ally.”

 

After we all finished ate, I had gone to the restroom and was now washing my hands. When I came out, I was suddenly ambushed by Amitie.

“Hey, Arle. Can we talk to you for a sec?”

“ _We?_ ” I didn’t like where this was going.

“It’s not bad or anything.”

“Yeah, but… _we_?”

“It’s just going to be us girls.”

“Amitie. You seem to be dogging my question.”

“Just come on!” Amitie grew impatient and just grabbed my arm, pulling me outside the restaurant where Raffina, Lidelle, Ally, and Peruvis were waiting.

“So when were you going to ask him?” Amitie asked after letting go of my arm.

“Huh? Ask who?”

“You know. Ask Sig if he can come with us to the beach.” Raffina said.

“Wh-What?! W-Why would I do that?!” I started blushing.

“Well, duh. You clearly like him.” Peruvis said.

“Yeah, as a friend!”

“It’s more than that, Arle. We can tell.” Lidelle said.

“Just admit it.” Ally added.

“Admit what?!”

“ _sigh._ Do we really have to say it?” Raffina asked.

“Say what?! You guys have been saying I’ll notice it, but I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about!”

“ _Really, now?_ ” All of them teased.

…

…

…

“…O-Okay. Y-You got me. I…a-admit it.”

“Admit what, Arle?” Lidelle teased.

I was blushing really hard, but was also getting very annoyed. If they really want me to say it, then I will.

“ **FINE! I ADMIT! I LOVE SIG, DAMNIT! ARE YOU GUYS HAPPY NOW?!** ”

“See? Now was that so hard, Arle?” Amitie asked.

“Just please stop teasing me.”

“Alright. We won’t tease you anymore.”

“So why should I invite Sig to the beach trip with us?”

“Because. We’re going to help you and Sig get together.” Ally said.

“H-Huh?!” I started blushing again.

“Come on, Arle. We’re going to be there for a couple of days. It’s the perfect time.”

“Days?” I was confused.

“I’ve got a beach house over there that’s also near an amusement park by the sea.” Raffina said. “Lily said we can go there for my birthday.”

“Your birthday? You mean you want me to confess my love for Sig during your birthday vacation?”

“We know it sounds inconsiderate, but trust me, it’ll be great to see.”

“Okay…but how do you plan on making this work?” I had doubts on this whole thing.

“Come on, Arle. We’re girls. We know everything about romance and love.” Lidelle said.

“That sounds like a stereotype.”

“Well, even if it is, you’ve got two sets of couples on your side. We know what to do.”

“Just leave it to us. We’ll get you two together in no time flat.” Peruvis added.

I was still skeptical about this whole idea. Leaving my feelings for Sig in the hands of five lesbians. But they are my friends. And if they want to help, I can’t really say no to them.

“ _sigh._ Alright, guys. I’ll trust you.”

“You won’t be let down, Arle!” Amitie cheered.

“I can only hope.”

“Just one more thing. Where’s Schezo’s cave at?” Raffina asked.

“Huh? Schezo’s cave?”

“I just need to ask him something.”

“Uh…it’s in the forest, next to a small lake.”

“Small lake, huh? Okay. I got it. I’ll go ask him tomorrow.”

“Uh…okay?”

 

Me, Amitie, and Ally then split from the other three girls and headed home. We ended up running into Rafisol on the way, who said she got lost. So Ally held her hand the whole way there.

“Geez, Sis. Why did you say you’ll go home if you don’t know where it is?”

“ _I thought I did. Sorry, Onee-chan._ ”

“You don’t have to be sorry, Sis.”

“So guess what, Rafisol? We’re going with your idea and going to the beach for a few days.” Amitie said.

“ _Really?_ ” I couldn’t tell, but Rafisol sounded excited.

“Yep. It’s going to be us teen girls, my mom, Raffina’s maid Lily and her sister Amira, my mom’s friend Rulue, Klug, Sig, and Chu.”

“ _Whoa…_ ”

“Plus one more.” Ally added.

“Oh, yeah. And one more.”

“One more? Who else is coming?” I asked.

“Well, he doesn’t know yet, but he’s coming along.” Amitie said with a smile.

“Okay…” I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I just left it alone.

The more I thought about this beach trip, the more worried I got over what is it these girls are planning. I know they want to help, and they’re trying to…but…

 _For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this…_  


	20. The Summer Job

**Amitie’s POV**

 

“Mom…”

***mumble***

“Mom…”

***more mumbling***

“ **MOM!!!** ”

“ **What?! Huh?! What?!?** ”

…

…

“Oh. Ami. It’s just you.”

“Who else calls you _mom_ , Mom?”

“It’s too early for your sarcasm.”

“Anyway, get up.”

“For what?”

“Mom, don’t you remember? We’re suppose to go to the library today to do an author meet and greet event.”

“Huh? Oh yeah, I remember! Is that really today?”

“Yes, it’s today. Now get up before I hit you with my pillow.”

“Alright, alright. Just don’t hit me with the pillow. That thing’s hard as hell.”

Mom finally got up from her futon and went to the bathroom to freshen up. Still yawning, of course. Arle, Ally, and Rafisol were eating breakfast and saw the whole thing.

“Geez, it’s like I’m the parent sometimes.” I said as I joined them.

“Well, you and Melody always had this special chemistry together, Ami. More special than most mothers and daughters.” Ally said.

“ _Plus it’s really funny._ ” Rafisol added.

“Oh yeah. Definitely funny.”

“Gee thanks, you two.” I sounded slightly insulted.

“Aw come on, Ami. You know we’re just messing with you.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“You three really are close, huh?” Arle asked.

“Yeah. I’ve known these twins since we were little. Their personalities didn’t change much, but Ally was a lot more affectionate towards me.”

“Really? How?” Arle asked Ally.

“Um…well…it was **_so_** long ago, I don’t really remember…”

“ _Onee-chan was in love with Ami._ ”

“Sis!” Ally was now blushing.

“ **No way! You were in love with Amitie?!** ”

…

“Y-Yeah. I-I was.” Ally stuttered. “But that’s all done for! My love is completely devoted to Lidelle!”

“Yeah, I know.”

“But you should’ve seen her back then, Arle. She didn’t even try to hide it. Always clinging on to me and saying **_Let’s fall in love!_** every day.”

“Really?” Arle then started to laugh a little, making Ally upset.

“ **I told you those feelings are gone now!** ” She shouted.

“Alright, alright. I believe you, Ally.” Arle said.

“Believe in what?” It was at this point Mom had came back to the living room to join us for breakfast.

“ **Nothing! It’s absolutely nothing! We weren’t talking about a damn thing!** ” Ally yelled, still feeling embarrassed.

…

“Okay…?”

As Mom was about to start eating, I took a look at the outfit she was wearing. She had on black jeans and a grey jacket with black strips on the sleeves.

“Mom, what’s with the outfit?” I asked.

“Oh, this? I just didn’t feel like dressing up for this, so I just grabbed the first thing I saw in the closet.”

“I bet you don’t have a single dress or skirt in that closet.”

“No, Ami. I do not.”

“Figures.”

“Wait, you guys are using the closets?” Ally asked.

“Yeah. You’re not?”

“No, because we don’t have any hangers. Or shoe racks. Or a bed. Or any furniture for that matter.”

It’s true. It’s been 4 months since me and Mom moved to Primp and we still don’t have any furniture. Money’s been real tight lately, so we’ve only been spending it on food and stuff for hygiene. Hopefully, Mom’s light novel sells well. So that we could finally stop sleeping on the floor, as it’s starting to become uncomfortable.

“Well, not to worry, Ally.” Mom said to her. “Once this day is over, we’ll have enough money to even buy a jacuzzi!”

“We’re not buying a jacuzzi, Mom.” I retorted.

“But why?”

“Because we don’t need one.”

“ _And you’ll probably just fall asleep in it._ ” Rafisol added.

“It’s suppose to make you do that.”

“Yeah, but with you in one, you’ll probably drown in it.”

“No offense, Melody. But Ami’s right.” Ally said.

“ _sigh._ Fine, whatever.” Mom pouted.

I took a quick glance at my phone to check the time, and we were about to be late.

“Alright. Come on, Mom. We need to go.”

“Alright, Ami. I’m coming!”

“Are you guys still coming?” I asked the others.

“Yeah, sure. I want to know what Melody’s book is about.” Ally said.

“Me too.” Arle agreed.

Rafisol only gave a slight nod, meaning that she wanted to come too.

So then we each grabbed whatever food we could carry with one hand and went out the door to Mom’s car, heading our way to the library for this meet and greet thing.

 

It was a short drive there, but in my mind it felt like an eternity. That’s because the whole ride there, I was thinking one big question that’s been on my mind ever since we moved here.

_What the hell is Mom’s book about?!_

The whole time, she’s never told me. Not even a small hint at what the plot is. Along side the puyo hats and my relationship with Raffina, it’s been bugging me for the longest time.

When we stepped inside the museum part of the building, my curiosity got the best, and I had to ask.

“Hey, Mom. I’ve been dying to know…what is your book about?”

“Well…seeing how today’s the release date, I guess I can tell you guys.”

“Really?! **FINALLY!** ” I cheered.

“So what’s it about, Melody?” Arle asked.

“Well, it’s about a boy your girl’s age who, after his parents died in a car accident that he survived, lets this girl from his job move in with him. He then finds out that said girl is a lesbian, and even lets her girlfriend move in. The rest of the story follows his life as he goes on, with a bit of romance here and there. **_*wink* *wink*_** ”

“So it’s a love triangle?” Ally asked.

“That’s all the hints I’m gonna give you! You’ll have to read the book yourself to find out the rest.”

“ ** _OOOO!_** Now I’m **_really_** interested!”

“Yeah. Sounds like a really good book, Mom.” I added.

“Thanks, girls. I just hope the public thinks the same way.”

Not long after the conversation we reached the library part of the building, where Akuma was waiting at the front desk.

“Hey, Akuma. I’m here.” Mom said.

“Melody. You’re late…again, **KUMA!** ”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I, uh…overslept.”

“I see you’ve gone back to your normal sleeping habits, **KUMA!** ”

“Yeah, she has.” I said. “Waking her up in the mornings is like it’s own 9 to 5 job.”

“H-Hey!” Mom sounded insulted.

“Speaking of which, thanks for letting me work here, Akuma. I could really use the money.”

“Not a problem, Amitie, **KUMA!** Yu has been begging me non-stop for a new hire, so maybe this would keep her quiet for a while, **MA, KUMA, KUMAAAA!** ”

“I see.”

“Wait, Ami, you got a job?” Ally asked me.

“Yeah. Someone has to have money for the beach trip, right?”

“But didn’t you say Raffina was rich?”

“Yeah, but even she’s not going to have enough to supply all of us. And besides, it’s **her** birthday. She shouldn’t be paying for anything on that day. So I’m going to use some of what money I get before the trip to buy her a gift.”

“ _Oh. I see. Does Raffi know?_ ” Ally teased.

“No she doesn’t, and I don’t want her to. It’s going to be a surprise.”

“ _I see…_ ”

“Also, don’t call her Raffi. That’s my nickname for her.”

“Okay then. Can I call her Waffine?”

“If you want to get punched in the stomach, then go ahead.”

“S-She wouldn’t do that…r-right?” Ally sounded a little scared.

“You can find out for yourself.”

“N-No. I-I’m good.”

 

We went deeper inside the library to where the event was supposed to take place. There, we saw Yu carrying boxes filled with what I believe are copies of Mom’s book to the main booth. She was already looking exhausted.

_Wait, can ghosts get exhausted?_

“S-So…exhausted.” We heard her say.

_I guess they can._

“Hey, Yu.” I called out to her.

“Amitie!” Yu cheered as she hugged me real tight.

“H-Hey, Yu. I missed you too, but I don’t want to be like you.”

“Oh. Sorry. I’m just happy that we’re finally getting some help here.”

“Speaking of which, where’s Rei?”

“He went out to get some breakfast for us. Though I think I should’ve gone with him. He’s not good with directions, and gets easily distracted.”

“Yeah, I see what you mean.” Ally said. “Sis is the same way.”

“Sis?” Yu sounded confused.

“Oh, right. This is my twin sister, Rafisol. She just moved in with us.”

“Hi.” Was all Rafisol said.

“Hey, there.” Yu said as she took a look at Rafisol, and noticed how she was floating. “Uh, Ally. Is she…”

“No, she’s not dead. She just doesn’t have a soul.”

“Really?! No soul?! I heard the chances of that are extremely rare, **KUMA!** ” Akuma said.

“Yeah, not even Rei and I have had that happen.”

Hearing Yu say that started making me think of something that before this moment, never came across my mind.

“Hey, Yu. If you and Rei were alive, how old would you two be?” I asked.

Yu stood (or floated) there for a second, trying to think of an answer. I guess no one has ever brought this up to her until now, because it took here a while to give a response.

“You know…I honestly can’t remember.” She said with a gloomy tone.

“More like, you don’t want to remember. Am I right?” Akuma asked.

Yu didn’t say anything, but nodded yes to confirm his assumption.

“Amitie, didn’t Yu tell you?”

“Didn’t Yu tell me…?” I had to think a bit to understand what Akuma was talking about, but when I did figured it out…I felt horrible for bringing it up.

“C-Crap! Yu, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to make you think of that stuff again!”

“It’s okay, Amitie. It’s was just an accident, that’s all.” Yu said.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

“Well, we’ve got another 30 minutes before the event starts. You girls get what’s left of the boxes and then you can take a break, **MA, KUMA, KUMAAAA!!!** ”

“Sure thing, Akuma.” We both said.

 

***WARNING! THIS PART OF THE CHAPTER GETS REALLY DARK! IF DARK CONTENT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE, STOP READING NOW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!***

 

Mom and Akuma went to his office to discuss any last minutes details to include, and Ally took Rafisol and Arle to look around the library until the event started. So it was just me and Yu, gathering up the remaining boxes and moving them to the booth. There weren’t that many left, and we were able to finish with 15 minutes to spare.

“Geez, where’s Rei with that breakfast?” I asked while rubbing my stomach. All the work had made me a little hungry.

“He probably got distracted with something again. I knew I should’ve gone with him.” Yu said.

“Well, hopefully he gets here soon. It’s going to be chaos in about 15 minutes.”

“Yeah, true.”

After a minute of two of silence, Yu spoke up again.

“Hey, Amitie…can I talk to you about something?”

“Yeah, sure. About what?”

“W-Well…remember a couple months ago, when we first met?”

“Yeah, I remember. You and Rei rescued me and Raffina from the puyo hats. I’m still grateful for that, you know.”

“No problem. But…there’s something we left out. And by _we_ , I mean me.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“W-Well…you know how I said that me and Rei were assaulted by our father and ended up dying from it?”

“Yeah…”

“W-Well…t-to be completely honest…I-I…l-lied.”

“Huh?!”

“The truth is…it was only me who was assaulted.”

“ **R-Really?!** ” I was in complete shock.

“Y-Yeah. And it wasn’t just being assaulted.”

“What do you mean?”

Yu stayed silent for a short while. And during that she started crying. I held her in a hug until she felt a little better enough to continue explaining.

“I…I was also tortured, starved, locked up, a-and…

…

…r-r-raped.”

“Wh…What? I-Is that really true?”

“I-I wish it wasn’t, but it is. My father would lock me up in the basement, completely naked with my arms and legs chained to the wall, for days without food. And when he did feed me, it was only minuscules of bread crumbs. Every so often, he would beat me. Most of the time with his bare fists, but on occasion he would use a whip. At the time, I didn’t know which hurt more: the bruises and scars left on my naked body, or how he enjoyed giving me said bruises and scars.”

“Y-Yu…” I whispered.

“And I didn’t think it could get worse than that, but it did. One day…m-my father…h-he…r-raped me. **My own father raped me!** **And he did it non-stop every day, along with the beatings and starvation, until one day…my body couldn’t take the suffering anymore…and I died in that same exact spot!** ”

 Yu was crying full hard tears at this point while I was completely speechless and felt sick to my stomach. But I just had to ask one more question. So I pulled myself together and asked said question.

“A-And what happened to Rei? How did he die?”

“Rei died due to a rare form of cancer. He and our mom left home to get treatment, but none such thing existed for the cancer he had. That’s when my endless suffering began.”

Yu then continued to cry while I sat there and watched in horror and shock. Up until now, I always thought I had the worst memories of my father. But after hearing what Yu had to go through, the true reason of she died, my assaults on me felt like mere fights in the schoolyard.

“Yu…I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you had to go through such hell.” I said while giving her another hug. A long one this time. “But you and I, we have a lot more in common than we originally thought.”

“ ***sniff*** W-We are?” Yu stopped cry to ask.

“Of course. We were both hurt and betrayed by someone we loved and cared about. Sure, I survived and you ended up dying, but other than that, we know what it’s like to be hurt. And we’re doing all that we can to not feel like that ever again. So please cheer up. As long as we stick together, everything’s going to be fine.”

Yu went silent for a good while. Her face looked like she wasn’t expecting me to say any of that stuff I just said. She then wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tighter than when I hugged her before.

“You’re right. We really are alike. We both know what it’s like to be hurt, but we also have a new life, with friends new and old to make us forget the hell we went through. And you made me realize that, even though I lied to you before. Thank you, Amitie. You really are a true friend.”

“No problem, Yu. That’s what friends are for.”

“ **Indeedy!** ” Yu cheered. Which made me giggle a bit.

“Oh, by the way…you can just call me Ami.”

“Ami?”

“It’s a nickname I made for myself that only a few people call me as. It’s like a proof of our friendship.”

…

“I-I see. Well then thank you a lot…Ami.”

“You’re more than welcome, Yu.”

“Aw, there you girls are, **KUMA!** I see you’ve finished already, **KUMA!** ” Akuma had came up to the booth along with everyone else.

“Yeah, we did. Wasn’t that much left anyway.” I said.

“I see.”

“Hey wait. Yu…were you crying?” Arle asked.

“Oh yeah, that. I was, but I’m okay now.”

“Why, what happened?” Ally asked.

“W-Well…”

That’s when the alarm on Akuma’s watch rang, signaling that the meet and greet has begun.

“Well, would you look at that, **KUMA!** It’s time to open the doors. Everyone to your positions, **MA, KUMA, KUMAAAA!!!** ”

“Sure thing, Akuma.” Me, Mom, and Yu replied.

“B-But…”

I then walked up to Ally and got close to her ear.

“ _Don’t worry, Ally. I’ll tell you later._ ” I whispered.

“ _Thanks, Ami._ ” She whispered back.

As the other three girls went to go stand in line, me and Yu waited by the both to work as helpers for Mom. As we stood there, we both had realized one more thing:

 

Rei still hasn’t come back with the food.


	21. Rei's Soft Side

**Raffina’s POV**

 

“So let me get this straight. You want me to go with everyone to your birthday celebration at a beach house, just so I can help Arle get together with this Sig guy?”

“Yep! That’s exactly it! So you’ll come, right?”

“ _Hmm…_ ”

I was at Schezo’s cave explaining to him the situation us girls have made for ourselves, hoping that he’ll help us. Feli and Peruvis were with me too, as after this we were going to the library to buy Melody’s book.

“Sounds interesting…but I’ll pass.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Look, Raffina. I don’t know if Arle told you guys already, but I hate the beach.”

“ **What?! That’s crazy!** ”

“ **How can anyone hate the beach?!** ” Peruvis asked.

“I just hate everything about it. The sun beating down on me, the sand getting in my clothes, women accusing me of being gay because I don’t find any interest in their swimsuits.”

“What?” The three of us reacted to the last one.

“Rulue did that to me once. Since then, it’s become a trend with other women back in our world.”

“Oh. I see.” I said. “But don’t you want to help Arle?”

“I would love to, but if it involves going to the beach, then no way.”

“It’s not **_just_** the beach, you know.” Feli said.

“How so?”

“Our family owns a beach house that sits across from it.”

“And there’s an amusement park near that. But even still, if you don’t want to go to that, you can just stay inside the house.” I added.

“Hm. Is that so?”

Schezo went silent for a second. We didn’t really know what he was thinking at this moment, but were hoping it was something good.

“…Well…alright. If it’s _that_ important for me to come, then I’ll go.”

“ **YES!** ” Us girls cheered as we hi-fived each other.

“Thanks a lot, Schezo! You won’t regret this!” I said.

“Hopefully, that’s a true statement.”

“Hey, Raffina. We should get going before the line gets too long.” Feli said to me.

“Yeah, right. We should.”

“Line for what?” Schezo asked.

“Melody’s book goes on sale today and we all want a copy.”

“Melody…wrote a book?”

“We know it sounds unbelievable, but it’s true. Come with us and see for yourself.”

“Is the line really going to be long? I didn’t think people were interested in these things.”

…

…

…

“You need to get out more.” Peruvis said.

“ **Tch.** ” Schezo got insulted.

 

It didn’t really take us long to reach the library. But when we got there, the line was surprisingly long. When we got in line, we were blocks away from the entrance.

_I didn’t this many people would be here._

“Great. The line is long.” Schezo said, already sounding annoyed.

“Lighten up, Schezo. We’ll probably be inside in like 30 minutes.” Peruvis said.

“30 minutes in this heat? Are you insane?”

“Hey, you’re the one wearing a black hoodie and black jeans.” I said.

“I’m a dark wizard. I’m suppose to wear black. I’m not going to wear a bunch of random colors like some kind of fre…”

“ _Like some kind of what, Schezo?_ ” All three of us said, reminding him who he’s with at the moment.

…

“N-Never mind.”

“Thank you.” I said.

“Hey, guys!”

We heard voices calling for us and coming up behind us were Ally, Arle, and Rafisol.

“Hey, guys. I thought you came with Ami.”

“We did, but Ally thought it would be a _great_ idea to get something to eat just a few minutes before the event started.” Arle said.

“Hey, you said you were hungry. And we were too, right Sis?” Ally asked her sister.

Rafisol did a simple nod, agreeing with her sister.

“See?”

“ _sigh._ Whatever.” Arle gave up. “So the line’s already this long, huh?”

“Yeah, it is.” Peruvis said. “Schezo was just complaining about earlier.”

“I’m actually surprised to see you out here, Schezo. Didn’t think you’d be interested.”

“Well, when I heard the words _Melody wrote a book_ , I had to see it for myself.” Schezo said.

“Yeah that does sound unbelievable, doesn’t it?”

“And based on what Ms. Accord said, it’s really good too.” Ally added.

“Yeah, I remember Melody giving her a copy before they even went on sale.” I said.

“Lucky.” Ally pouted.

“Well they are friends, Ally.”

“Yeah, but still.”

“ **Hey! Ally!** ”

We heard someone calling Ally’s named. Turns out it was Harpy, who was…on the roof of the building next to us?

“Harpy!”

“Ally!”

Harpy flew down from the roof and the two did their usual hug which ended in the same result: with somebody pulling them down.

“Harpy, what were you doing on that roof?” Arle asked.

“Oh, that. I was sleeping up there.”

“Why?!”

“It’s my new home!” She cheered.

“Harpy, you can’t live on the roof of a building.” Schezo said.

“ ***whine*** Why not, Schezo?! You live in a cave!”

“That’s different! I’m protected by whatever weather this oddly-named place throws at me!”

“It’s not like the cloud world back home, Harpy. Weird things can happened at this strange new world were in.” Arle added.

_Do they still think this place is weird?!_

“ ***whine*** I guess that’s true. But I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Don’t worry, Harpy. We’ll think of something.” Ally said.

“Yeah cheer up, Harpy.” I said. “Once we get back from the beach, we find you a new home, okay?”

“ **Yay!** Thanks, everyone!” Harpy cheered. “So what’s going on here?”

“We’re in line to get a copy of Melody’s new book.” Ally explained.

“…”

“…Who’s Melody?”

“Ami’s mom, remember? I live with them.”

“ _Oh yeah!_ ”

_How did she forget where her best friend lives?!_

“Hey, Ally. Can I get one, too?”

“Sure, Harpy. You have any money?”

“…”

“…What’s money?”

_Seriously?! Me and Ami already told you! How did you forget?!_

“Don’t worry, Harpy. I’ll just buy you one.”

“ **Yay!** Thanks, Ally! But…just one more thing.”

“Yeah, what?”

“What’s a book?”

_Oh my god…_

“Arle…just how?” I asked her.

“I don’t even know myself, Raffina.” She answered with a facepalm.

 

By the time we finished explaining to Harpy what money and books were, the line had gotten shorter. So much that we had to walk a few blocks to catch up with the line. When we did, we were in front of the local pet store, where we saw someone I didn’t expect to be there. This person was staring through the glass at the animals inside. I got extremely curious the more I watched. So I just had to ask.

“Uh…Rei? What are you doing?”

“Oh. Raffina. Just looking.”

“At what?”

“This cat.”

I looked through the window with him and saw the cat he was talking about. It really was cute, but I was still confused on why he was starring at it so intensely.

“It’s a really cute cat, Rei. But why are you starring at it?”

“It’s cute.”

“That’s it?”

“Pretty much.”

…

…

I was still confused. More than before at this point. But then I thought of something that might help a lot.

“Rei…do you want this cat?”

Rei didn’t say anything, but the slow nod he made gave me a clear answer. I giggled a bit and patted his back.

“Wow, Rei. I didn’t know you liked cats.”

“They’re cute.”

“Yeah, I can tell.”

“Uh, Raffina. Who is this…ghost?” Feli asked me.

“Oh, right. This is Rei. He’s a friend of mine. Rei, this is my cousin Feli and my friend Peruvis.”

“Oh. I see.”

“How are you friends with a ghost?” Peruvis asked.

“It’s a long story…” I answered with a shiver. Luckily, Peruvis didn’t notice it and just shrugged off my response.

“Well, nice to meet you, Rei.”

Rei just waved hello, still distracted by the white cat in the window.

“You really want that cat, do you?” I asked.

“Yes.”

The cat finally noticed Rei and now it was starring at him with its front paws on the window. I saw Rei’s face blush like he’s taking to his crush.

“I think the cat wants him too.” Arle said.

“It’s really cute.” Peruvis added.

“Cute.” Rei repeated.

Just then, the door to the pet store opened and out came the owner, who to my surprise was…

“Sig?!”

“Oh. Hey guys.”

“Sig, do you own this pet store?”

“Well, it used to be a pet store. Me and Chu bought it when we moved here and we’re making it into a bug farm.”

“ **You BOUGHT a pet store?! With what money?!** ”

“The money we got from our parent’s will.”

…

…

…

“I-I see…”

_Whoa! They got enough money to buy a pet shop from their parent’s **will**?! That’s some serious cash! And a good wat to use it, too._

“H-Hey, S-Sig.” Arle said while blushing.

“O-Oh. A-Arle. N-Nice to see you.” Sig was also blushing.

_Oh! Looks like Sig’s realized it now, too! This is just perfect!_

“A-Anyway.” Sig shook his head. “You look really interested in this cat. Do you want him?”

“Yes.” Rei sounded excited, but I couldn’t tell from his face.

“Wait, Rei. Can you even afford it?” I asked.

“Uh…”

“He can have it for free.”

“R-Really?!” I sounded surprised.

“We’re trying to give away the remaining pets here so we can start adding bugs. I’m sure he’ll be better off with an owner than to be stuck in here with a bunch of bugs.”

“I see. Well, Rei, you still want the cat?”

Rei and the cat were still starring deeply into each other’s eyes.

“I think that a yes.” Feli answered for him.

“Okay.”

Sig went back inside and got the cat out from the bed it was on. Then he came back out with the cat and gave it to Rei. Rei was now deeply blushing as he brought the cat to his face and the cat started licking his nose.

“That is so god damn cute.” Ally said. The rest of us agreed.

“By the way, I think it’s male.” Sig said.

“I see. What are you going to name it, Rei?” I asked.

“Kat.”

“Yes, Rei. You got the cat. What’s its name, though?”

“Kat.”

“We can see the cat, Rei. But what’s its name?”

“Kat.”

…

“Are you screwing with me?”

“No. That’s his name. Kat. K-A-T, Kat.”

“ _Kat_ the _Cat_ …?” We all sounded confused.

“Nice name.” Sig said.

“Thanks.”

_Of course Sig would like it._

“So, Sig. Are you and Chu planning to go to the library today?” I asked him.

“Huh? For what?”

“Melody’s book comes out today. That’s why we’re in li…”

I looked to my left to see that said line was non-existent. We were so invested in Rei’s love for cats that we didn’t even realized the line shrunk dramatically.

“Oh.” Was all I could say.

“Well, since there’s no line, I guess we can go. Hey, Chu! You want to go the library?”

“The library?” Chu asked as she came out the store. She got excited when she saw us. And by “us”, I mean Arle.

“Aruru!” She cheered as she ran up to hug her.

“Hey, Chu. Nice to see you.” Arle said while patting her head.

“Shigu. What’s happening at the library?”

“Melody’s book.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“So you guys going?” Arle asked.

“Sure. Why not?” Sig said.

“Great. We’re heading there now.” I said.

“Actually, Raffina. I think we’re next in line.” Peruvis said.

…

“…R-Right.” Was all I could say.

 

When we got to the entrance, we walked all the way through the museum to the library and found the booth with Ami, Melody, Yu, and Akuma standing next to it.

“Gee, there you guys are! I was wondering when you’ll show up!” Amitie said.

“Sorry, Ami.” I said. “We would’ve been here earlier, but things happened.”

“What things?”

“ _Well…_ ”

“Yu. I got a cat.” Rei said to his twin sister.

“Rei! Where were you?! You were suppose to bring us food hours ago!” Yu yelled.

“I got a cat.”

“So you forgot to get us something to eat because you were looking at a cat?!”

…

…

“I got a cat.” Rei repeated.

Yu sighed with annoyance while facepalming her entire face.

“G-Good for you, Rei.” Was all she could say.

“ _Aw!_ What a cute cat!” Amitie said. “What’s his name, Rei?”

“Kat.”

“Yes, Rei. You got a cat. What’s its name, though?”

“Kat.”

“I can see the cat, Rei. But what’s its name?”

“Kat.”

…

“Is he screwing with me?” Amitie asked me.

“You would think, but no, he’s not. That’s actually the name of the cat. K-A-T, Kat.”

“ _Kat_ the _Cat_ …?” Amitie, Melody, Yu, and Akuma sounded confused.

“That’s what we said.”

“ _Onee-chan._ ” Rafisol said to her sister.

“Yeah, Sis?”

“ _Can we get one?_ ”

“What? You mean a cat?”

Rafisol nodded.

“Sis. I don’t think we can get one.”

“ _But why?_ ” Rafisol whined.

“Rafisol, do you know how much it cost to take care of a cat?” Melody asked her. “We can’t even afford furniture, let alone a cat.”

“ _But Sig’s giving them for free._ ”

“Sorry, Rafisol. That was the last cat.” Sig said.

“ ** _*whine*_** ”

“Don’t worry, Sis. Once we start making more money, we’ll get a cat again, okay?”

“ _Thank you, Onee-Chan._ ” Rafisol smiled.

“Come to think of it, Kat hasn’t made a noise since we got him.” Peruvis stated.

Rei looked at Kat and vise-versa.

“Hi, Kat. I’m Rei.”

“ _Meow._ ”

“He meowed!” Amitie said.

“In a cute way, too.” Ally added.

Rei smiled at Kat as he brought him closer to his face. Kat then started rubbing his onto Rei’s, all while purring.

“ ** _So cute!_** ” Most of us shouted. Sig, Chu, and Harpy weren’t paying attention and Yu, Schezo, and Akuma didn’t find it interesting at all.

“Well, come on, Rei. Let’s go home so you go play with…Kat. _And so I can get something to eat._ ” Yu said, whispering the last part to herself.

“Kay.” Yui headed for the exit and Rei followed her.

“See you tomorrow, Yu! Have fun with Kat, Rei!” Amitie shouted while waving her hand.

“See ya, Ami!”

“Bye.”

“Did Yu just call you Ami?” I asked.

“Yeah. I told her she can call me that.”

“Wow. What happened between you two?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

…

…

“You’re not jealous are you, Raffi?”

“No, of course not! I know you won’t hurt me, Ami!”

“Right! And I won’t hurt you either, Raffi!”

We then hugged each other and Ami gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

“ _Oh, brother._ ” I heard Melody say.

“ ***cough*** Excuse me, Raffina and Amitie. But I must have a word with you both, **KUMA!** ” Akuma said to us.

“Sure, Akuma. What’s up?” Amitie asked.

“It’s best if we do this in private, **KUMA!** ”

We looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what Akuma was getting at. But we were now curious on what he wants to talk to us about in private. So…

“Uh…sure, Akuma. We could talk in private.” I said.

“Good, **KUMA!** Arle, you come along, too. It’s best if you hear this as well, **MA, KUMA, KUMAAAA!!!** ”

“U-Uh…o-okay.” Arle agreed.

“We’ll meet you girls outside then.” Melody said to us.

“Okay, Mom.” Amitie replied.

The three of us then followed Akuma to his office, not knowing what this talk of his is about.

_Why do I have a bad feeling about this?_


	22. Miscounts & Secrets

**Arle’s POV**

 

I somehow had a bad feeling when Akuma had asked me, Amitie, and Raffina for a quick talk. Not that I find Akuma a little scary (which I kinda do), but I had a feeling on what the talk was about. Which left a kind of sickness in my stomach.

_Or maybe it was the ramen from that weird restaurant Ally took us earlier…_

We eventually reached inside Akuma’s office and Akuma shut the door behind him. The bad feeling from before was now even worse. I started sweating so much, it felt like I ate a really hot pepper or something.

“So what did you want to talk to us about, Akuma?” Amitie asked.

“Well…you may not like this, but it’s about the Puyo Hats, **KUMA!** ”

“ **T-The Puyo Hats?!** ” Amitie and Raffina shouted.

“More specifically, the Red Puyo Hat, **KUMA!** ”

“ _Oh, no!_ I thought we were done with that thing!” Raffina said.

“Raffi…I’m scared…” Amitie said. Raffina then held her as tight as she could.

While I…was really confused.

“Wait, what are the Puyo Hats? And why is Amitie scared of the red one?”

“Oh, right. We never told you.” Raffina said. “Akuma, you mind if I explain real quick?”

“Go ahead, **KUMA!** ”

“Explain what?”

“Well…before the whole Dimensional Mirror incident, me and Ami dealt with another one: The Red Puyo Hat. It was a strange that we found in Oshare’s shop, and once Ami put it on, it didn’t come off. Not long after that, the hat did some strange powers, and later we found out that there were four others that also had strange powers. And then days later, it did something scary…”

“Sc-Scary?” I asked.

“It reminded Amitie of a past she never wants to remember, simulating the injuries she got from it. And when she tried to take it off, the hat electrocuted her…in an attempt to kill her.”

“K-Kill…Amitie?!”

Amitie was in mid tears as Raffina told me this story, and she held her tighter than before and kissed her on the forehead while petting her hair.

_I feel really bad for Amitie. What she went through is a lot worse than me coming out of a weird mirror._

“Luckily, Yu & Rei were able to rescue her. And with the help of our old classmate Tarutaru, who had the Blue Puyo Hat, I was able to find Amitie and bring her home.”

“W-Wow. Th-That’s some story.” I said, still in disbelief.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t all bad though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Later that night, me and Ami confessed our love for each other. And we’ve been together ever since.”

“I see. Well at least it had a happy ending.”

“Yes. But I fear that this one won’t, **KUMA!** ”

“What do you mean, Akuma?” Raffina asked him.

“Well, you see…the Red Puyo Hat…it escaped.”

“E…

“E…”

“ **E-ESCAPED?!?!** ” Both girls shouted. Then Amitie collapsed in fear.

“ **Ami! Stay with me! It’s going to be okay!** ” Amitie got back up after a few seconds and was held up by Raffina.

“How did that thing escaped?” I asked.

“It was a fight. A big one. I tried to keep it inside its case, but it was too strong for me, and it eventually broke free, **KUMA!** Where it went, I have no idea. But before it fled…it talked, **KUMA!** ”

“ **I-It talked?!** ” Raffina asked. “Wh-What did it say?”

“I couldn’t make most of its speech, but I did hear it repeat one word: _Revenge._ ”

“ _R…Revenge?_ ” Amitie collapsed in fear again.

“ **AMI!** ” Raffina shouted.

“ _I-I’m okay, R-Raffi. J-Just a bit…s-scared._ ”

“ _A bit_ is an overstatement.”

“Well what am I going to do?! That hat is **definitely** going to kill me!”

“ **Like hell it will! I’ll burn that piece of dumb fabric to a crisp before it could lay a hand on MY Ami!!!** ”

“ ***sniff*** Thanks, Raffi.” Amitie then hugged Raffina tight while being held in her arms.

“Is there anyway for us to stop this Red Puyo Hat?” I asked.

“Actually, that’s where you come in, Arle, **KUMA!** ”

“Huh? Me? How?”

“The Puyo Hats come in five different colors: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Purple. In order to stop one, we need to use the power of the other four, **KUMA!** ”

“I see…but there’s only two.”

“Peruvis has the Yellow Puyo Hat. Now that we’re friends again, hopefully us explaining to her what’s happening will make her give it to us, or at least keep it safe until then.” Raffina said.

“Okay. What about the green one?”

“The Green Puyo Hat is a special case. It actually came from your world, Arle, **KUMA!** ”

“Huh? From my world? But I don’t remember me bringing it or seeing the others with it.”

“That’s what’s special about it, **KUMA!** The person who did bring it is someone you haven’t found yet, **KUMA!** ”

“Do you know who that could be, Arle?” Amitie asked.

“Well, the only person I haven’t seen yet but know is here is my friend, Witch. And knowing her, she probably did bring it with her.”

“Well then we’ll just have to find her and quickly.” Raffina said.

“I don’t really know much about these Puyo Hats, but I’ll help as much as I can.”

“Thanks, Arle! You and Raffi are lifesavers!” Amitie cheered.

_Lifesaver, huh? Never been called that before. Even after all the stuff Satan has done over the years._

“You’re welcome, Amitie. Just helping out a friend.”

“Good luck, you three, **KUMA!** I’ll keep studying these hats for more information, **MA, KUMA, KUMAAAA!!!** ”

“Thanks again, Akuma!” Raffina said as we left the office to meet up with everyone else. So now we have to find Witch and hope that she has this Green Puyo Hat thing so we can save Amitie from being murdered by a hat.

_Geez, and I thought my world had problems…_

 

**Sig’s POV**

 

“ _Shigu…_ ”

…

“ _Shigu…_ ”

…

“ _Shigu…wake up._ ”

“H-Huh…? Oh. Morning, Chu. What time is it?”

“8:03am”

“Huh. Okay, I’ll be down in a second.”

“Yay!” Chu cheered as she ran out my room and into the kitchen. This is a normal routine for us. I tend to oversleep a lot, so Chu comes and wakes me up every morning.

Before going to the kitchen, I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Unlike most days, where I use my right arm, this time I used my red claw-like arm. When I realized this, it got me thinking of something…something I’ve been hiding for a while…

…

The real reason of how I got this arm…

…

…

…And how…I’m a demon.

It started when I was around 4 or 5. One day, my left eye just turned red for what I thought at first no reason. So I just left it alone. But over the next few months, my left arm was turning red and my fingers were deforming a little. To the point where it looked like I had a claw. I was scared and didn’t know what was happening, until my parents told me that I was a descendent of a well-known and powerful demon. And that his soul controls most of my body, giving me his old powers. I don’t necessarily hate my true self, but it did mess-up my childhood. Once people found out that I was a demon, they were afraid of me. Feared that if they come in contact with me, I’ll eat their souls and send them to hell.

I was lonely. No one to play with and no one who didn’t fear me because of my family history…

…that is until Chu was born.

Unlike most kids at the time, Chu didn’t fear me. In fact, she treated me like a normal person (or in this case, a normal big brother). She would always play with me and talk to me and comfort me whenever I felt down about my true self. It was like she was the big sister (which kinda makes sense considering how smart she is).

But then one day, out of the blue, our parents went missing. Days later, we found out that they were murdered and left in an abandoned creek near our house. No one knew how it happened or who would do such a thing…but then they started blaming me, since I’m a demon. I kept denying it, saying I would never do such a thing. But nobody believed me. I was shunned by the entire town, and even got arrested and charged for my parent’s murder. I was going to do life in prison for something I didn’t do, plus the fact that did they had the proof to counterclaim my true statement.

But what made it worse is when they started going after Chu. Not too long after her 6th birthday, she started showing signs of being a demon as well. Both her eyes turning from blue to red, her long hair turning from blue to white, and a huge scar going down her back. I have one too, but it didn’t come to mind at the time. Because of this, people would assault her with questions and accusations, and her friends even started to ignore her. I watched her cry every night, reminding me of how I used to be, and now she was becoming the same. That moment I made a promise to Chu. That I will always protect her, and she will always protect me.

So we packed up our stuff and left our old town, and found Primp just a little down the road. We planned to start over with our lives and forget about our past. So far, it’s been working out. We’ve met a bunch of new friends, starting school in a couple of weeks, and…

…

…that big one…

…meeting Arle.

I don’t really know what her past is in full detail, but we are similar in some ways. We both like blue, from the looks of it. And Arle’s starting to get really into bugs, which makes me happy. Plus, Chu pretty much looks up to her…almost like a big sister.

She’s a nice person, and a great friend. But recently, I’ve been starting to question that a little. Not that I don’t want to be friends with her anymore, but…isn’t there a way for us to be _more_ than that? Do I even **_want_** that kind of thing? And with Arle, no less? And better yet…do I tell her the truth?

_GAH! I’m thinking too much about this!_

I shook my head to clear it of the recent thoughts and finished brushed my teeth. Leaving the bathroom with my mouth tasting like 1,000 breath mints.

 

When I entered the kitchen, I looked around to see everything was normal. The sun nearly covering the whole room, the smell of nearly burnt…whatever, Chu and Peruvis eating breakfast…

…

_Wait…what?_

I rubbed my eyes a little, thinking I was still sleeping, but I wasn’t. There at my table in front of me, was Peruvis, eating what looked like a breakfast sandwich.

I was so confused that I didn’t say anything. I just grabbed a bowl for some cereal and sat at the table with them.

“Shigu! You’re here!” Chu said with food still in her mouth.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Chu.” I said while wiping her face.

“Wow, you really are a good big brother, Sig.” Peruvis said to me.

“Peruvis, what are you doing here? How did you know where we lived?”

“That’s only a secret a tortured soul gets to know.” She replied with a smug look on her face.

“We live next door.” Phoenix said, coming out of her back. “There’s no food back home and she’s too lazy and broke to go get more.”

“ **Seriously, do you EVER shut up?!** ”

“That depends. Do you ever stop lying?”

“ _Why you little…_ ”

“Uh, Peruvis.” I said.

“Oh, right. So apparently, your guy’s house was the first house I went to when I was begging people for food. And Chu let me in and gave me this sandwich.”

_She was begging for food?!_

“I-I see.”

“Anyway, I’m glad I ran into you.”

“You mean entered my house?”

“Whatever. I need to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“What else? About Arle. About how you love her and want her to be your girlfriend.”

I then felt my facing burning like it was roasting over a huge patch of fire.

“ **Wh-What?! Wh-What the hell are you talking about?!** ” I stuttered.

“Come on. You’re going to do this, too?”

“ **Do what?!** ”

“ _Sig…_ ” She started teasing. “ _Come on, now. You know want to…_ ”

_What is it with girls and teasing nowadays?_

“ _sigh._ F-Fine. I-I’m not…a-against the idea of it…”

“ _The idea of what, Sig?_ ”

…

…

“ _…T-The idea of…A-Arle…b-being my…g-g-girlfriend._ ”

“There you go! Was that really hard to say?”

“Yes. Extremely hard.”

“Aw, you’re just overreacting. Right, Chu?”

“Looked pretty hard to me.”

“Thank you, Chu.” I said.

“Like brother, like sister.” Peruvis said.

“Why even bring this up now, anyway?”

“Because. Tomorrow we’re all going to the beach for a couple days for Raffina’s birthday. Arle was supposed to invite you guys, but she never got the chance.”

“The beach, huh?”

“Shigu! I wanna go to the beach!” Chu said.

“Hold on, Chu. What are even going to do there?”

“Well you know, beach stuff.”

“ _Beach stuff_ is such a vague answer…”

“Well I don’t know, Sig! It’s Raffina’s birthday! She’s the one planning everything! Geez, are you always this straight forward?”

“I get that a lot.”

“Yeah, I can tell.”

“Did you come here just to eat my food, tease, and insult me?”

“No, there’s a point to all this. Calm down. Although, you should know what it is by now.”

I then looked at my claw-like red arm and Chu’s red eyes and white hair. I then sighed, knowing what Peruvis was talking about.

“I’m going to have to tell her…am I?” I asked.

“I’m afraid so.”

“Shigu. Are really going to tell Aruru? That were…”

“Yeah. That we’re demons.”

“You know I saved you guys earlier by making up that bored soul thing.”

“Yeah, be lucky my niece and nephew were visiting that time.” Phoenix added.

“Oh, yeah. We meant to thank you for that.”

“I’m just surprised those knuckleheads actually believed it. What a bunch of…”

***POW***

Peruvis then punched Phoenix in the face, knocking him out cold as he slid back into her back.

“Such a pain in the ass.” She said.

“Wouldn’t it be pain in the back?”

“Again, so straight forward. Anyway, hurry up and finish eat.”

“Why?”

“Because. You’re going to help Arle pick out a swimsuit for tomorrow.”

“ **Wh-What?! W-Why?!** ” I started blushing.

“Everyone has one except her. And with her being from a different world, she’s not familiar with them at all.”

“ **And you think _I_ do?!** ”

“Well you are a boy, right? Boys are always fantasizing about a girl’s chest and whatnot.”

“ **That’s such a stereotype, Peruvis!** ”

“Well, whatever. Just hurry up. Arle’s waiting for you there.”

“ **You mean you already told her?!** ”

“Yep. Told you you’ll be there a 9.”

“ **But it’s already 8:50!** ”

“Well you better hurry up then.” Peruvis said with a smile.

I got up and ditched the rest of my cereal on the table as I went to change my clothes. Since I didn’t have much time, I just threw on a light-blue t-shirt and some black sweatpants. I then headed for the door and got my shoes on before opening the door and ran outside.

“Bye, Shigu.” Chu said while waving at me.

“Make sure you pick out a sexy one, will ya?” Peruvis said.

I ignored her and just kept running to the store where Arle was waiting for me. Based on what happened this morning, I can already tell that Peruvis is going to be one of _those_ neighbors.

_Great…_


	23. Swimsuit Shopping

**Still Sig’s POV**

 

I continued running through town trying to make it on time to the store where Arle is. But as I kept running, I finally realized something…

…Peruvis never told me where this store is.

“Well that’s just great.” I said to myself in an annoyed tone.

That was when my phone rang, and I checked it to see that I got a message…

…from my cousin, Ayano.

_Ayano? I haven’t seen her since 10 years ago when I started becoming a demon. Wonder what she wants?_

I opened the message and begin reading it.

“ _Hey, Sig. It’s me. I know its been awhile since we’ve seen each other, but we really need to talk. You and Chu. I can’t explain much on this message, but what I can say is…it’s starting._ ”

“It’s starting? Does that mean…? I thought it only happened to me and Chu. If it’s happening to Ayano too…I better go and see this for myself.”

I looked back at my phone and started texting a reply to the message.

“ _Sure, Ayano. We’ll come over. How about next week?_ ”

Not long after, I got a reply.

“ _Sounds good! Thanks, Sig! I could really use your help on this!_ ”

“ _No problem, Ayano. See you soon._ ”

After I put my phone away, I looked around the area I was at and remembered that I was still lost. I decided to just keep walking and hope to find it just by chance.

To my surprise, that actually worked.

“Hey, Sig. Over here.”

“Hey, Arle.” I said as I ran up to her. Surprisingly, neither one of us started blushing this time. That’s a good sign…right?

“Sorry you had to come all the way here to help me pick out a swimsuit. I’ve would’ve done it myself, but…”

“Is it because you’re from a different world and all that?”

“Well, no. I just never wore one before.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I never did much swimming…or anything else really. I was too busy saving the world and stuff.”

“Saving the world? From what?”

“It’s a long story that I don’t want to talk about.”

“Uh, okay then. Shall we start, then?”

“Sure. Let’s go.”

The two of us went inside this giant mall-like building to start looking for a swimsuit for Arle. Neither one of us realizing the trouble that’s soon to follow.

 

The inside of this place was huge. It looked like a mall, but I felt like it was bigger than that. There was three floors with stores side by side with each other. And the only way to get to the upper floors was by escalator. The fact that a “mall” such as this is in a place like Primp was just mind-boggling to me.

“Woah. This place is huge, isn’t it?” I hear Arle ask me.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. This place really is huge. Kinda unfitting for a town like ours.”

“Yeah, I know. You would never think such a store would exist here.”

“Yeah, took me by surprise when I first saw this place.”

As we continued walking through this oddly-placed shopping center, I kept thinking about earlier. That message I got from Ayano about it happening to her has got me thinking about my own secret. I know I lied to Arle about my true self, but I only did it because I was scared of she, and pretty much everyone else, would think of me. How’d they treat me and Chu. They’ve been real nice up until now, but I don’t want a repeat of last time. People being afraid of us, accusing us of murder, forcing us to leave our home. I don’t want to do that again. I don’t want to put Chu through that again. And most of all…

…

…I don’t want to lose Arle. As a friend, and a girlfriend.

I have to tell her. I have to tell her the truth. I don’t want to, but I don’t really have a choice.

“Hey, Sig. You okay?” I heard Arle ask me.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine.” I answered her, but she looked skeptical.

“You sure? Cause…you’re crying a little.”

“H-Huh?”

That’s when I touched my face and felt tears running down my face. I really was crying. And in front of Arle, too. This secret is starting to eat me up inside. Now I really have to tell her.

“Sig…are you sure you’re feeling okay? I don’t to force you to do this if you don’t want to.”

“I-I’m fine. R-Really, I am. I’ll help anyway I can.”

Arle then smiled at me and gave me a light hug. I felt myself blushing really hard and more tears running down my face. This type of comfort…it’s been so long since I’ve received it. So long, that I thought it died out a long time ago.

I’m so glad I was wrong.

“Thanks, Sig. You’re a really good person. I wish all boys were more like you.”

_Trust me Arle. You wouldn’t want that._

We finally broke apart and smiled at each other with extreme comfort. Only to be broken apart when we realized what we were doing in public, and started blushing. The first time both of us have done it together today.

“S-So you…s-still want to…go find a swimsuit?” I asked.

“Y-Yeah. S-Sure. L-Let’s…g-go.” Arle replied.

We then continued our trek through this…mall? I guess? The fact that it’s here still bugs me.

 

We finally found the swimsuit store after nearly 20 minutes of looking. Once we got inside, I instantly remembered why I was mad at Peruvis this morning. And I instantly started getting uncomfortable.

“Oh, geez.” I said.

“What’s wrong?” Arle asked.

“I really don’t feel right by being here.”

“Oh. Right. Because of all the girl’s swimsuits.”

“Honestly. I don’t know why Peruvis said I’d be good help in this.”

“Well, she and the other girls said that boys are usually fantasizing about a girl’s chest and whatnot, but I figured it was just a stereotype.”

“It is just a stereotype.”

“Yeah. Thought so. I figured since it was a group of lesbians that gave such a statement.”

“You know, I’ve been wondering. Does it bother you that you’re the only straight girl between all of them?”

“No, not really. Well, besides the _facts_ they give me about boys.”

“Oh right.”

“And besides, I’m not the only one. Rulue’s straight.”

“Yeah, but she’s not _exactly_ around our age. She just looks like it.”

“Yeah, that took me by surprise. Same could be said for Schezo.”

“180-years-old? How’s is that possible?”

“I have no idea.”

“And what about Harpy?”

That’s when Arle turned her head away while scratching her head.

“Harpy…is a bit complicated.” She said.

I didn’t really get it. And I think Arle knew that too, because she started giggling at my confused face.

“Don’t worry, I’ll explain. You see, I don’t even think she knows she’s gay.”

“How can someone not know they’re gay? I mean, it’s possible. But not for this long.”

“Trust me. The most simplest of things, Harpy can make complicated.”

“I see. So what makes you think she’s gay?”

“Well, back home she has a best friend named Seriri and the two would always be together. The thing is, Seriri has a huge crush on Harpy. And she even told me and the others that. But with Harpy being such an airhead…”

“ _Right…_ ”

“You get it now?”

“Yeah, I get it. That’s gotta suck for her.”

“You would think, but Seriri’s extremely patient. She’s put up with it for years.”

“Years?”

“Years.”

“Wow. Well, good for her…I guess.”

“Yeah, she’s a fighter.”

“Well, I bet she’s not a better fighter than me!”

We heard a third voice come from nowhere…or, we thought it came from nowhere. Because soon after, the owner of the voice popped out from the rack of swimsuits that was next to us. It scared the hell out of me, but apparently not Arle.

“What the…Draco?! Were you listening to our conversation?!” Arle asked.

“Yep! I was bored so I figured I’d hear a peak or two about something interesting, but you’re just as boring as ever, Arle.”

“B-B-Boring?! How am I boring?!”

“Well, for starters…”

***BONK***

“Ow! What the hell?!”

“If would just behave, then I wouldn’t have to do that.”

“Gao!”

Then suddenly, another girl showed up and stood next to the one still in the clothes rack. The way she was dressed looked kinda weird to me. Almost like she was a witch or something.

“Witch!” Arle cheered.

“Arle! It really is you! So Draco wasn’t lying when she said she saw you the other day.”

“See? I told you.” The other girl said.

_Wait. What? I’m confused._

And once again, I figured Arle knew this. Because she started giggling at me again.

“Oh, right. Sig, these are my two friends. The one with the broom is Witch, and the one on the floor is Draco.”

“I see.” I said.

“Wait, _the one on the floor_? You couldn’t pick a better description for me?” Draco asked.

“Well, you are on the floor.”

“That’s because Witch hit me in the head!”

“Hey, you were asking for it. Running around like a little kid in a candy store.” Witch said.

“I couldn’t help it, okay? I’ve been to a swimsuit store this big. There’s so many to choose from. It’s like I’m in heaven.”

_Not for me._

“Yeah, figures you would like this place, Draco.”

“So, who’s this boy, Arle? _Is he your boyfriend?_ ” Witch asked in a teasing tone.

“N-No! H-He’s just a friend! A-A really good friend!”

“ _Really good…?_ ” Both Witch and Draco asked in a teasing way, which made Arle blush a dark red.

“ **ST-STOP BEING PERVERTED!!!** ”

“Alright, alright.” They both said.

I had no idea what they meant by that.

“Oh, yeah. Witch, I need to aske you something. Do you happened to have something called the Green Puyo Hat?”

“The what? I have no idea what you’re talking about, Arle.”

“Oh. I see.”

“What’s a Green Puyo Hat?” Draco asked.

“Well, it’s a long story, but to make it short, I need to find it to help my friend fend off against a killer hat.”

“What the hell…?” all three of us said.

“It sounds ridiculous, I know. But it’s a lot worse than it sounds.”

“Well sorry, Arle. I don’t have it. And I’m pretty sure Draco doesn’t either.”

“Yeah, I don’t have it, either.” Draco added.

“Well, that sucks.” Arle said looking bumped out. “And the others don’t have it either.”

“Wait, others?” Witch asked.

“Yeah. Schezo, Harpy, and Rulue are here too.”

“No way! Harpy’s here?! Alright! I’ve got something to do instead of sitting around at Witch’s shop all day!” Draco cheered.

“Yeah. Me and my potions will be safe.”

“Hey!”

“Anyway, Schezo and Rulue are here too, huh? That’s a shock.”

“Yeah. And if you think that’s shocking, just wait until you find out…”

“Uh, Arle?” I tapped on her shoulder.

“Huh? Oh right. Sorry, Sig. We’ll start looking now.”

“Huh? You guys looking for a swimsuit?”

“Well, I am. Sig’s just helping me out. Although he said he’s rather uncomfortable here.”

“Well, if it bugs you so much, Sig, then we’ll help her do it.” Witch offered.

“Really? You’ll do that?” I asked.

“Sure! Arle’s not that good with being pretty, anyway!” Draco said.

***BONK***

“Ow! Seriously, again?!”

“Yes, again. I can totally be pretty!”

“ _Well…_ ” Witch and Draco said.

“ **I’M NOT A TOMBOY!** ”

“If you say so, Arle…” they both said.

As the three girls went off to get swimsuits, I waited outside near the food court. I was extremely glad to be out of that store…

…Plus I was hungry. I never got to finish my cereal this morning.

 

About an hour and a half later, Arle had met up with me at the store exit, and together we were sitting in the park relaxing from the chaos that was in that superstore.

“Geez, I’m so glad to be out of that place.” I said.

“Yeah, me too. It was too crowded in there.” Arle said.

“Though we were lucky to find your friends there.”

“You mean _you_ were lucky?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Arle then giggled at me, which then made me laugh a little. Hearing Arle’s laugh and seeing her smile…those are good things to experience to me. I’m not denying my love for her anymore at this point, but confessing to her is a whole new problem now.

And speaking of confessing…

_Now’s a good time to tell her. It’s now or never._

“U-Uh, hey…Arle. C-Can I tell you something real quick?”

“Sure, Sig. What’s up?”

“Well, you know how that one day where I told you that me and Chu were a thing called Bored Souls?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“W-Well…”

I felt my heart racing like crazy as I started panicking within my mind. The same worries I had before were coming back to haunt me again. I was scared. I didn’t know how Arle would react to this, but I won’t know until I tell her. But…I’m scarred to. This whole thing just keeps circling around and it’s hurting my entire body and soul. I don’t know what to do! I just…I just…I…just…want…to…

“S-Sig…y-you okay? Y-You’re crying again.” Arle said to me.

I looked up and faced Arle with my teary face. Once she saw that, she hugged me again and I instantly felt a little better. Being around her, laughing with her, and having fun with her…I really don’t know when I started having feelings for Arle, but I do know that I love her very much.

“Th-Thank you, Arle.”

“You’re welcome, Sig. Do you still want to tell me something?”

“Well…it’s not a _want_ it’s a _need_.”

“Need?”

“Yeah, need.”

“O-Okay.”

I took a couple deep breaths and looked at Arle again. This time with a more calmed down look on my face.

“Arle, the truth is…that me and Chu…a-are…demons.”

“Y-You’re…d-d-demons?!”

I was too scarred to say anything, so I just shook my head yes.

Arle went silent for a bit. I had no idea what she was thinking, but I was starting to believe that it was something negative.

“Sig… **THAT’S SO COOL!!!** ”

“I know you must be scared of me right no…wait what?”

“I said it’s so cool that you and Chu are demons.”

…

…

…

“… **R-REALLY?!?!?** ”

“Yes, really!”

“Y-You’re not afraid of me?”

“No.”

“You’re not going stop being around me?”

“No.”

“You’re not going to blame me for killing anyone?”

“No…wait, what the hell?”

“I didn’t kill anyone.”

“O-Oh. Good then.”

“You seriously thought I did?”

“No, of course not. You’re too cute to kill.”

“T-Too…c-cute?!” I started blushing. Soon after, Arle started blushing as well.

“W-Well…y-you know what I mean!”

“Y-Yeah…I g-guess.”

We both went silent for a little bit. Even though it’s gotten awkward again, I’m just glad I was wrong about my fears.

“So you and Chu are demons, huh? How’d that happened?” Arle asked.

“We’re actually related to an all-powerful demon, and we actually have some of his powers.”

“Woah…so cool.”

“Really?”

“How many times do I have to say it?”

“Uh…10.”

“what?”

“Come on, say it.”

Arle sighed and took a deep breath.

“Really. Really. Really. Really. Really. Really. Really. Really. Really. Really.”

“That’ll do.” I said with a smile.

“Jerk.” Arle pouted.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“So is it just you and Chu?”

“I used to think that, but I got a text from my cousin earlier saying that its happening to her too.”

“Wow. So cool! I wish I became a demon.”

“What? Why?”

“Because. I’ve fought them so much, that I wonder what it’s like to be one.”

“Your world is weird, Arle.”

“Yeah, I know.”

We then laughed it off like it was nothing.

“I really had fun today, Sig.”

“Yeah, me too. I’m really glad I was able to tell you my secret. I thought I was going to lose you as a friend.”

“What? No! Never! I would never you, Sig! Because, really…you’re more than just a friend to me. You’re…really special to me. Like… _really_ special.”

“Y-Yeah…you’re really special to me too, Arle.”

We were both blushing really hard. Then, I felt myself inching closer to Arle. And she was doing the same. I wasn’t sure if we should stop, but my body made the decision for me, which was to not stop at all. We got closer and closer…

…until…

…It…it happened…

…

…w-we…k-kissed.

…

…

…a-and it was really nice.

I never gave this any thought, but Arle’s lips feel so soft. It was the most pleasant feeling I’ve ever felt. It maybe because this is my first kiss, thus making me sound bias. But I really didn’t care. This was the best moment of my life.

After a few seconds, we pulled apart and starred at each other with blushed red faces. We suddenly held each other’s hands and Arle brought her head onto mine in a slow, passionate way.

“Hey…Sig.”

“Yeah…Arle?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

We continued to stay in that position for…I don’t even know how long. Or cared, really. I was just happy that not only did I tell Arle my secret, but I also confessed my love for her. And best of all, she loves me too. At some point, I remembered the last words my parents told me before they were mysteriously killed. These words have followed me at throughout my life, and mean so much to me.

_“Sig. Whatever happens to us, just promise…promise that you’ll be happy again. That’s all we really want as your parents.”_

_I did it, Mom. I did it, Dad. I’m finally happy._


	24. Beach Vacation: First Arrival

**Amitie’s POV**

 

“ **NO WAY! YOU CONFESSED?!** ”

“Yes! For the 8th time this hour, I confessed my love for Sig, and so did he for me! What part of that are you guys not getting?!” Arle asked sounding really annoyed.

“We get it, it’s just…” I said.

“We really wanted to use our plan.” Ally whined.

“I know, right? After all the planning we did!” Raffina said.

“ _Planning? We?_ Raffina, you didn’t help at all. You and Peruvis spent the entire time playing Panel de Pon.” Lidelle complained.

“Hey, we were listening…kinda.” Peruvis said.

“Geez. You two and that girly game of yours…”

“ **IT’S NOT GIRLY!** ” Both Raffina and Peruvis shouted.

“So, what? I’m not gonna get a _congratulations_ or something?” Arle asked.

The rest of us looked at her with looks of forget-ness because we kinda got carried away there for a moment.

“ **Congratulations, Arle!** ” The five of us shouted.

“ ***giggle*** Thanks, you guys.”

The seven of us girls were sitting together on the train on our way to the beach. The day has finally come, and we were so excited to spend a whole week near the ocean. When Arle told us that she and Sig are now a couple, we started talking about other things related to that. And by we, I mean just six of us. Rafisol was asleep on Ally’s shoulder, and has been asleep since the train left Primp. That’s when Raffina brought something up.

“So now you’re the only one left, Peruvis. _Got someone in mind?_ ” she teased.

“Wh-Where’s this coming from?” Peruvis started blushing.

“Well, it’s just that you’re the only one out of us that’s still single.” I said.

“What? I’m not the only one!”

“Well, let me rephrase that… you’re the only one who has a chance.”

“Huh?”

“Well Ringo’s only visiting, so see doesn’t count. Feli’s in love with Lemres, so she’s out. Yu’s dead in a way, so she’s out too. Harpy’s too much of an airhead to know about love.” Lidelle explained.

“Schezo’s not interested in love. He says it’s pathetic.” Arle added.

“And let’s be honest, Klug doesn’t stand a chance.” Ally stated.

“ _Doesn’t stand a chance in what, Ally?_ ”

“C-Crap…”

Ally didn’t realize that Klug was sitting behind her and hear her pretty much insulting him.

“Wh-What I mean is…y-you don’t have chance at…losing an IQ contest!”

“Right…sure.” Klug clearly didn’t believe her.

“Oh come on, Klug! I was just kidding! I didn’t really mean that!”

“Whatever you say, Ally.” Klug then turned back around in his seat.

“Damn. I think he’s mad at me.”

“I don’t blame him. You pretty much insulted his manhood.” I said.

“He’ll get over it. I do that all the time.” Peruvis said.

“Wow. Brotherly-sisterly love…” Lidelle said sarcastically.

“Shut up, Lidelle.”

“So Peruvis. Who you’re gonna hook up with?” Ally asked.

“We’re still talking about this?!”

“Well, like we said…you’re the only one.” Raffina said.

“What about Rafisol? She’s single.”

“Yeah, but…Sis isn’t really… _experienced_ …in love.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…”

“ _Onee-chan…_ ”

Rafisol suddenly spoke in her sleep while snuggling up against Ally’s arm. It was really cute, but I decided to stay silent.

“Oh. I get it now.” Peruvis said.

“ _Sigh._ Sis, wake up.” Ally shook her twin sister’s head.

“ _Huh? Onee-chan, I was sleeping._ ”

“Sis, we’re going to the beach. You shouldn’t be sleeping.”

“ _But I like sleeping. Especially with Onee-Chan._ ”

“I know, Sis. I know.” Ally said while rubbing Rafisol’s hair.

“So anyway, Peruvis…” Raffina said.

“ **Oh my God! Just drop it already!** ” Peruvis yelled.

“Fine, fine.”

After talking a bit more, we realized something that said earlier, but wasn’t brought up till now.

“Wait a sec. Arle…did you say that Schezo thinks love is pathetic?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, I did say that. Yeah he told me that a while ago. Never bothered to ask him why, though.”

“Well, let’s go ask him then. I’m curious to know why he thinks that.” Raffina said with some kind of smirk on her face.

“Yeah, me too.” Lidelle had the same smirk. The two then got up from their seats and started walking to the back of the train where Schezo was.

“Oh boy. We better go after them, Ally.” I said.

“Yeah, I’m with you, Ami. Come on, Sis.” Ally said.

“ _Okay, Onee-chan._ ”

“You two coming?”

“Nah, I’m good.” Peruvis said.

“Yeah, me too. I know Schezo’s going to be mad at me for bringing this up.” Arle said.

“I’ll tell him you said sorry.”

“Thanks, Amitie.”

Me, Ally and Rafisol managed to catch up to Raffina and Lidelle before  we found Schezo in the back of the train sleeping on one of the longer seats.

“Guys. Let’s go back. This isn’t really important.” I said.

“Oh come on, Ami. Don’t you want to know what Schezo’s reasoning is?” Raffina asked.

“No, not really. If he wants to think that, then let him.”

“We will. After we hear his reason.” Lidelle said.

“Lidelle…” Ally said.

But we were ignored, as our girlfriends kept getting closer to Schezo’s ear.

“Ready?” Raffina asked.

“Ready.” Lidelle answered.

“Okay. 1, 2, 3…”

“ **MORNING, SCHEZO!!!** ”

“ **GAAAAAHHHHH!!!!** ”

After they yelled in his ear, Schezo had fallen off the seat and landed on his back. He was clearly pissed that we woke him up that way, let alone at all.

“ **What the hell?! I was in the middle of sleeping!** ” He shouted.

“Sorry, Schezo. We just wanted to ask you something.” Lidelle said.

“Now?!”

“Yes, now.”

“ _Sigh._ Fine, what is it?”

“We just wanted to know why you think love is pathetic.” Raffina said.

“ **Tch!** H-How do you know that?!”

“Arle said she was sorry.” I said.

“ _Damnit, Arle…_ ” He mumbled under his breath.

“So come on! Tell us! Was it because someone dumped you?” Raffina asked.

“Wh-What?! No! Nobody dumped me! I just think love is overrated! That’s all!”

“Huh.” Raffina and Lidelle said. Sounding like they didn’t believe him.

“And besides, even if Schezo wanted a girlfriend, he’ll never get one.” Said a new voice. It belonged to Rulue, who had walked in after coming from the food car next to us.

“Huh? What do you mean, Rulue?” Lidelle asked.

“I say that because back home, Schezo would scare girls away with that weird speech thing of his. After being called a pervert, of course.”

“Which I’m not! They just keep talking it the wrong way!” Schezo said.

“That’s because you keep saying it the wrong way.” I said.

“I’m not trying to! I just want to examine them for their power! But they keep taking it as I want to examine **them**!”

“Yeah, Schezo. Because everybody knows that when you say **_I WANT YOU!_** , you mean their power.” Rulue said sarcastically.

“I want you?” We asked.

“I-I don’t want to talk about it.” Schezo said, now completely embarrassed.

“So I already missed it?” Peruvis asked as she walked up to us.

“I thought you said you weren’t interested.” I said.

“I’m not. I just came here to tell you guys that Sig came over to see Arle.”

“ _Ooooo…_ ” Four of us said.

“ _I don’t get it._ ” Rafisol said.

“I’ll tell ya later, Sis.” Ally said.

“ _Okay, Onee-chan._ ”

“Sig? You mean that boy that Arle’s been hanging out with lately?” Rulue asked.

“Yep. Arle told us that she and him are dating now.” Lidelle said.

“Arle? With a boyfriend? That’s shocking, considering how much of a tomboy she is.”

“Wait, they got together? So why am I still here?” Schezo asked. I did wondered myself why Schezo tagged along. Arle did tell me one time that he hated the beach.

_Which is absurd!_

“Because, like I said, you need to get out more.” Peruvis said.

“ **Tch!** Whatever. I’m going back to sleep…somewhere where I **WON’T** get yelled in the ear.”

Schezo got up and exited the car we were in to search for said spot. Rulue went back to where Mom, Ms. Accord, Lily, Amira, and Yumi were while we went back to our seats where, sure enough, Sig was there. Chu was also with them. Along with Harpy and…two other girls I haven’t seen before, but Arle sure has.

“So just hours later, you two confessed your love for each other? Wow, I didn’t know you **_played_** like that, Arle.” One of them said.

“I-It’s not like that, Witch!” Arle yelled with a faint blush.

“Wouldn’t you want to be **_that_** than a tomboy?” The other girl asked.

“Okay one: No, I wouldn’t. And two: **I’M NOT A TOMBOY!** ”

“If you say so, Arle.” Both of them said slyly.

“ _sigh._ Geez, you two.”

_Wait…what did she say one of them was?_

“Hey, Ami. Did Arle just call one of them Witch?” Raffina asked me.

“Yeah, Raffi. She did. I hope she has it.”

“Has what?” Lidelle, Ally, and Peruvis asked.

“We’ll explain later.” I said as we walked up to our seats.

“We’re back.”

“Oh hey, guys. What did Schezo say?” Arle asked.

“Didn’t really give an answer. He was mostly mad that Raffi and Lidelle yelled in his ear while he was sleeping.”

“You yelled in his ear?”

“It was kinda funny.” Raffina said.

“I-I see.”

“So you weren’t kidding when you said Schezo was here, huh Arle?” the blonde-haired girl said.

“Well, she was right about Harpy being here. So now I won’t be bored hanging around you all the time.” The green-haired girl said.

“Well, _excuse me_ for being mature. At least one of use has to be.”

“Yeah…but you’re still boring.”

“And you’re still an airhead.”

“Gao!”

“So Arle, are these two your friends?” I asked.

“Oh yeah. These two are Witch and Draco. They came from my world, too.” Arle said.

“Me and Lidelle already met Draco.” Ally said.

“Yeah, we met her when we ran into Arle and Schezo one day.” Lidelle added.

“Well, that explains why she took so long with that errand. I’m Witch, by the way. Nice to meet you all.”

“Nice to meet you, Witch. I’m Amitie.”

“Amitie? Arle, is she…”

“Yeah, she’s the one I told you about yesterday.”

“Oh. Well sorry to disappoint you already, Amitie. But I don’t have, nor have I heard of this Green Puyo Hat thing.”

“You don’t? Aw, geez! We’re back where we started!”

“It’s okay, Ami. We’ll call Akuma and tell him what happened.” Raffina said.

“Wait, the Green Puyo Hat? Why are you guys looking for that?” Peruvis asked.

“Well…”

We then explained to everyone what Akuma told us a few days ago. Besides Harpy, Chu, Draco, and Rafisol, who all fell asleep mid-way through, everyone gained chills down their spines.

“W-Woah. S-So the Red Puyo Hat escaped from its case, and now it wants revenge on you?” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah. Akuma said that the only way to stop it is to use the power of the other four against it.” I said.

“We were told that someone from Arle’s world brought the Green Puyo Hat with them. We assumed it was Witch, but that’s been disproven.” Raffina said.

“And I really can’t think of anyone else that could possibly have it.” Arle added.

“You still have the Yellow Puyo Hat, right Peruvis?” Raffina asked her.

“Yeah, I do. Don’t worry. I’ll keep it safe until you guys need it.”

“Thanks, Peruvis.” I said.

“So we just got to hope that another one of Arle’s friends shows up soon.” Lidelle said.

“Sig, can’t that arm of yours help track things down or something?” Ally asked.

“What? No. it can’t. It’s not some kind of miracle worker, Ally.” Sig said.

“How did you get that arm, anyway?” Raffina asked.

“U-Uh…I-I…d-don’t know.”

“Really? Cause it looks like that arm represents…”

“ **Witch!** ” Arle shouted at her. She didn’t get it at first, but then she realized something.

“O-Oh. Sorry about that.” She said.

_Sig’s hiding something. And it looks like Arle and Witch know what it is. I bet it has to do with his read arm and red eye._

“Hey, guys. We’re approaching the station soon. Get your things ready.” Mom said to us.

“Okay, Mom.”

“Sis, wake up. We’re about to get off.” Ally said.

“Chu. Wake up.” Sig said.

“Harpy, wake up.” Arle said.

“Draco. Breakfast.” Witch said.

“ **BREAKFAST?! WHERE?!** ” Draco shot up like a rocket. Once she looked around and realized there was no food, she got pretty angry.

“ **GAH!** Why do you keep doing that?!”

“It’s the only way to wake you up.”

“Don’t toy with my appetite!”

“Why? It’s fun to make you believe there’s food around.”

“ _Gao!_ ”

“Those two get along so well, huh Arle?” I asked.

“Yep. They’re best friends.” Arle replied.

 

After all of us got off the train and grabbed our bags, we had to walk down a small path in order to get to the beach house. The 10-minute walk it took was worth it. Because once we got there, it was a sight to behold.

The house was pretty huge. Much larger than normal beach houses…then again, I’ve never seen or been to a normal beach house, so maybe this is a normal one. Who knows.

“Geez, it’s been a while since we’ve been here.” Raffina said as we went inside the house.

“Yeah, I know. I think the last time we were here was when we were kids.” Amira said.

“I’m surprised nothing’s changed over the years.” Lily said.

“Yeah, there’s just enough room.” Feli said.

“Huh? Room for what?” Raffina asked.

“U-Uh…n-nothing.”

Then suddenly, one of Feli’s bags started bouncing on its own.

“Why’s that bag jumping?” Amira asked.

“N-No reason.”

As the bag’s jumps got higher and somewhat more aggressive, some of us back up a bit (including me). The only ones who didn’t were the four girls who’ve been here before.

“Miss Feli…please tell me you didn’t…” Lily said.

“D-Did what? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lily.”

“ _Feli…_ ” Raffina said while starring her down.

…

…

…

“ **OKAY, FINE!!!** ” She shouted. She then went to open the bag and out from it, Baldanders jumped out and landed on Feli. Licking her face repeatedly.

“Okay, okay, Bal! I missed you too! Just get off me!” Feli said.

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“ **W-W-W-W-W-WOAH! TH-THAT DOG’S HUGE!!!!** ” Ally shouted.

“Everyone. This is Feli’s dog, Baldanders. He was supposed to stay home, but Feli clearly snuck him over here.” Raffina said.

“Woah…” Some said.

“What?! You actually thought I was going to leave my precious Bal all alone by himself?! That’s animal cruelty, Raffina!”

“But we have no room for him, Feli!”

“He could stay outside, like back home!”

“ _You mean where he’s supposed to be right now…_ ”

“ _Please, cousin?_ ” Feli looked at her with really big and cute puppy dog eyes. It was hard for Raffina to resist, and she eventually gave in.

“ _sigh._ Fine. Bal can stay.”

“ **Yay!** Thanks, cousin! Say thank you, Bal!”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ” Baldanders licked Raffina repeatedly as his sign of gratitude.

“Okay, okay, Bal! You’re welcome! Just stop licking me!” Raffina grabbed a nearby towel and wiped her face of dog drool. “Hopefully, that’s the last of the surprised guest.”

“Uh…a-actually, Raffina. I need to admit something.” Lidelle said.

“Sweetie…please tell me you didn’t.” Yumi said to her daughter.

“How could I, Mother? I didn’t want him to be alone!”

“Leave who alone?” Sig asked.

Lidelle went silent for a bit. But after a quick sigh…

“Poochy! Here, boy!”

“Poochy?” Some of us asked.

Then in no time flat, a pale white ghost thing came out of Lidelle’s sweater and landed in her hands. Licking her face repeatedly.

“Okay, okay, Poochy! I missed you too!”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“ **W-W-W-W-W-WOAH! WH-WHAT IS THAT THING?!** ” I asked.

“This is Poochy. My…dog. Actually, he’s really a lost soul. A living being that forgets everything about their past life when they die. They use shapeshifting powers to figure out who they were, but they never do.”

“W-Wow, Lidelle. That’s…depressing.” Peruvis said.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. But Poochy doesn’t seem to care. Right, Poochy?”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“Good boy!”

“Still, I can’t believe you snuck him over here, Sweetie.” Yumi said.

“I didn’t _sneak_ him over here. I made it obvious.”

“How so?” Ringo asked.

“Didn’t you noticed how I had a tail at the train station?”

“I did.” Chu said.

“Why didn’t you say anything, Chu?” Raffina asked.

“Because I thought Rita having a tail was normal.”

Ally then started snickering while placing her hands over her mouth, in an attempt to hold in her laughter.

“ **BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!** ”

She failed.

“ **ALLY!!!** ” Lidelle whined.

“ **I’m sorry, Lidelle! But that was just too damn funny!** ”

“ **Jerk!** ” Lidelle calmed down a bit before talking again. “So, Raffina. Can Poochy stay? I promise he’ll be on his best behavior.”

“ _sigh._ Fine, Lidelle.” Raffina didn’t even bother to protest.

“ **Yay!** You hear that, Poochy? You get to stay here with me!”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ” Poochy began licking Lidelle again with glee.

“ ***giggle*** I know, boy. I’m happy, too.”

“Anyway, this is how the rooms are. There’s five bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor, four bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor, and then the attic.” Raffina explained.

“I’m taking the attic.” Schezo said without hesitation.

“W-Why?” Arle asked him.

“It sounds like the only place to be alone.”

“You’re going to have to come out eventually, Schezo.” I said.

“I know. For food and stuff.”

“No, to actually have fun for once in your 180-year-old life.” Raffina said.

“ **Wait, what?! You’re 180-years-old?!** ” Draco asked.

“No wonder you keep saying perverted things.” Witch said.

“My age has nothing to do with that!”

“ _If you say so…_ ”

“Anyway, you said I didn’t have to do anything!”

“Yeah, that was when we were trying to get Arle and Sig together. But since they did it themselves, we’re gonna make you have fun here.”

“Wait, what was that last part?” Sig asked.

“I’ll tell you later, Sig.” Arle said to him.

“B-But…”

“No buts, Schezo. My birthday, my rules.”

“ **Tch!** Damnit! But I’m still getting the attic!”

“Fine. Go ahead.”

“Then with that over with, I’m going to bed.”

“What?! It’s still morning!”

“I’m sorry, but _who_ was the one who yelled in my ear earlier?”

…

…

“…S-Sorry.” Raffina said with little embarrassment while I gave her a hug. Schezo then went to the attic to go back to sleep.

“S-So I was thinking the adults would get the bottom rooms while the teens get top ones.”

“ _Oh. I get it. Some are planning to do the nasty tonight._ ” Amira said.

“ **SH-SHUT UP, AMIRA!!!** ” Me, Raffina, Lidelle, Ally, and Arle shouted at her with bright red faces.

“What does she mean by the nasty?” Harpy asked.

“M-Miss Harpy. It’s best if you didn’t know.” Lily said to her. “And besides, Miss Amira will be bunking with me.”

“What?!” Amira shouted.

“There is no way in hell I’m leaving you in a room by yourself.”

“Oh come on, Lily! I’m not a kid anymore!”

“But you still act like one.”

“Whatever.” Amira pouted.

“Upstairs is enough room for one person to have their own room. So I was thinking on giving it to Klug.” Raffina continued.

“Huh? Why me? That’s a bit generous of you, Raffina.” Klug said.

“I figured since you like to read a lot.”

“Wow. Um…thanks, Raffina.”

“Sig, I figured you and Chu could share a room if that’s okay?”

“Sure. It’s fine. You’re okay with it, Chu?” Sig asked her sister.

“I’m fine with it, Shigu.” Chu said.

“Next is Witch, Draco, and Harpy. To be honest, I didn’t know you and Draco were joining us, Witch.”

“Yeah, sorry, Raffina. I kinda invited them without thinking.” Arle said.

“It’s okay, Arle. There’s an extra room for them. Hope you don’t mind being with two other people.”

“Nah. It’s okay.” Witch said. “Someone has to pay attention to these airheads.”

“Gao! Will you quit calling me an airhead?!” Draco yelled.

“It’s okay, Draco. There’s a candy named after us!” Harpy cheered.

“Really?! A candy named after us?! Now I’m really craving it! When do we get some food?”

“Later.” Raffina said.

“ _Aw!_ ” They both whined.

“Good luck, Witch.” Arle said to her.

“Thanks, Arle. I’m gonna need it.” Witch said with an exasperated sigh.

“So then the last room is for the rest of us, Raffi?” I asked.

“Yep. That’s it, Ami. Don’t worry, it’s pretty big.”

“Ooo! Let’s go see it now!” Ally said.

“Alright calm down, Ally. We’ll each take about 20 minutes to get settled then head for the beach. Sounds good?”

Once everyone agreed, we each went to our rooms and relaxed for a little bit. This is only day 1 of our vacation and we’re already tired. Who knows what’s going to happen next?


	25. Beach Vacation: Uroko & Yoko

**Raffina’s POV**

 

“Ladies, I present to you… **THE MASTER SUITE!!!** ” I said as I pushed the double doors to reveal the room us teen girls will be using.

“ **WHOA!!!** ”

The room was huge. Bigger than the other rooms combined. The bed was probably a king-sized, but even with that there was still room on the floor for futons. To the left of us was a giant flat screen that looked like it was never used. Don’t know how that’s possible, since flat screens weren’t a thing when we were last here.

“Raffi. This room’s huge!” Amitie said to me.

“We’re going to be using **_this_** room?” Lidelle asked.

“Yep. It took a lot of convincing to get Lily to let me use this room. It’s usually my parent’s.”

“Geez, your parents need a room this big? For what?” Ally asked.

“I honestly don’t know. Probably some rich people stereotype.”

“There are rich people stereotypes?” Arle asked.

“I didn’t think rich people had any.” Ringo said.

“See. That’s one of them.”

“S-Sorry.”

“Still, though. This bed seems unnecessarily big.” Feli said.

At some point, Rafisol had gotten on the bed and she ended up sinking down on it. To the point where we couldn’t see her anymore.

“ _Hahaha. It’s squishy._ ” We could barely hear her say.

“ **SIS!** ” Ally shouted as she grabbed Rafisol’s hand and began pulling her out the bed. After a few tugs, she managed to get her out.

“ **Sis, you okay?!** ”

“ _I’m okay, Onee-Chan. Try the squishy bed._ ”

“Sis, beds aren’t supposed to be squishy.”

“ _Oh._ ”

We then started smelling this really bad odor and after looking for a bit, found where it was coming from.

“They’re not supposed to smell, either.” Peruvis added.

“Geez, when was the last time Auntie and Uncle changed the sheets?” Feli asked while covering her nose.

“Probably the last time we were here.” I said while doing the same thing.

“Hey, what’s this button for?” Arle asked as she pressed it. Suddenly, the bed started to shake and in a quick flash, it disappeared inside the wall. The button disappearing with it.

…

…

…

“…Well, that works.” I said.

“Yeah, at least the smell’s gone.” Amitie said.

“We’ll just all have to use futons then.” Lidelle said.

“No problem with that. I get to be closer with my girlfriend now.” Ally said as she hugged and kissed her girlfriend.

“ ***giggle*** _Ally…_ ”

“And the same us.” I said as I did the same thing to Amitie.

“ ***giggle*** _Raffi…_ ”

“Maybe Amira was right about the whole _doing the nasty_ thing.” Ringo whispered to Peruvis.

“ ***giggle*** Yeah, probably.”

“ **NO SHE WASN’T!!!** ” Me, Amitie, Lidelle, Ally, and Arle shouted.

“Okay, okay. We get the point.” Both Ringo and Peruvis said.

“Anyway, should we get changed to the beach now?” Feli asked.

“Yeah, sure. But first, Peruvis I really need to know…” I said.

“Way ahead of you, Raffina.” Peruvis said. “Feli put some kind of charm on the spot on my back where Phoenix usually pops out from. He won’t be a bother for when stuff like this happens. Or throughout the entire trip! **HAHAHA!** ”

“Or so you thought, you gullible child.”

…

…

“ **What the hell?!** ” We all shouted.

“For a second there, I could’ve sworn Phoenix’s voice came out of Peruvis.” Lidelle said.

“That’s because it did.”

“ **Huh?!** ” We shouted again.

“ **NYAHAHAHAHAHA!!!** Did you girls really thought that was the only way of me communicating?! I can’t believe you believed this poor sap!” Phoenix spoke through Peruvis.

“ **Phoenix, I swear to God! If you ANYTHING to mess with us, it will be the end of you!** ” Peruvis gained control again and shouted.

“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t do anything stupid, and I won’t have to possess you.”

“ **YOU SHOULDN’T BE POSSESSING ME AT ALL!** ”

“Whatever.” Phoenix then went away, giving Peruvis full control of her body again.

“ _sigh._ Just when I thought I was going to get a break from him…”

“Woah. You two seemed to hit it off _real_ well.” Ringo said.

“Yeah, Ringo. We hit it off _really_ well.” Peruvis said, making Ringo laugh. Soon she started laughing with her.

_Okay. That’s suspicious._

“Hey, Raffi. You think something’s up with Ringo and Peruvis?” Amitie whispered to me.

“Yeah, Ami. I actually do. Don’t know what, though.”

“I may know what it is, but it’s too early to tell.” Lidelle whispered to us.

“You think it’s that, Lidelle?” Ally whispered.

“Maybe. I’m not sure myself.”

“What are you guys whispering about?” Peruvis asked.

“N-Nothing!” We shouted. It left confused looks on her and Ringo, but they eventually let it go.

“Anyway, let’s get changed now. I’m sure the others are waiting.”

“Okay!” Everyone cheered.

 

After our group had changed into their swimsuits, we head out back to meet up with everyone else. The only ones out there were Witch, Draco, and Harpy. Witch and Draco had on swimsuits, while Harpy still had on her white dress.

“Hey, guys.” I called out to them.

“Hey, you guys.” Witch said as she turned around, revealing her white and light-blue bikini. Well, that’s what I noticed. Amitie, Lidelle, and Feli noticed something else of hers.

“C-Crap…” Amitie said.

“S-She’s one of _them_ …” Lidelle said.

“W-Why…? Just why…?” Feli said.

“Don’t tell me you three are still upset from earlier?” Ally asked.

“ **How can we not?!** ” All three of them whined.

What happened earlier was, while we were changing into our swimsuits, it was discovered that Amitie, Lidelle, and Feli were… _a bit lacking_ , in the chest department. When they saw the rest of us, they didn’t take it so well.

“Uh…what’s with them?” Witch asked.

“They’re upset because they don’t have as big of a chest as the rest of us.” Arle said.

“Oh. I see.”

“ **It’s just not fair! How is it that we’re around he same age, yet we can’t grow any bigger?!** ” Amitie whined. She was wearing a white bikini with red hearts all over.

“ **It’s shameful having to feel self-conscious about this all the time!** ” Lidelle shouted. Her bikini was a similar design to Amitie’s, but completely green.

“ ** _I would’ve gotten mine a perfect size for my age! And even help you two! But Raffina won’t let me!_** ” Feli whined. Much like Amitie and Lidelle’s, Feli’s was similar, but black and purple.

“Feli…No charms!” I said.

“ _B-But…_ ”

“ **No!** ”

“ _Fine._ ”

“Oh come on, you guys.” Ringo said. “There’s nothing wrong with having…how should I say it…?”

“ _Itty-bitty-titties?_ ”

“ **RAFISOL!** ” We shouted at her.

“I don’t see why you guys are upset. Me personally, I would rather have itty-bitty-titties than tig ‘ol bitties.”

“ **DRACO!** ” We shouted at her.

“ ***giggle*** Itty-bitty-titties.”

“ **HARPY!** ” We shouted at her.

At this point, Amitie, Lidelle, and Feli were crouch down on the sand wallowing to themselves.

_Great. Now these three made it worse._

“What’s with these three?” Rulue asked as she walked towards us. She had on a red mini-shirt with white flowers on it for a design underneath a clear white vail. Her turquoise beach skirt also had flowers on it with it revealing her right leg, and she also had on blue-ish sandals white and pink flowers on the top.

“They’re upset because they have itty…”

***BONK***

“ **OH MY GOD! QUIT HITTING ME!!!** ” Draco shouted at Witch.

“I’ll stop when you learn to behave.”

“ **GAO!** ”

“Anyway, They’re upset because they don’t have a…bigger chest.” I said.

“Oh. Well that sucks.”

“See? Rulue understands.” Amitie said.

“Ami…” I said with a sigh.

“What’s wrong with my daughter?” Melody said as she, Lily, Amira, and Yumi joined us.

“ **Why, Mom? Why did you curse me with this nightmare?! It’s so embarrassing!** ”

“Ami, what the hell are you talking about?”

“She’s pretty much blaming you for giving her a small chest.” Ally said.

“What?! How is it my fault?! I can’t control such a thing! The process must be different be different here than back in France!”

“France?” We asked.

“Huh? Didn’t I tell you, Ami? I was born and raised in France. Paris, to be exact.”

…

…

“ **SAY WHAT?!** ”

“You seriously never told your daughter that, Melody-senpai?” Lily asked her.

“I thought I did. I must’ve forgot.”

“ **Geez, Mom! You forgot to tell me your first name, you forgot to tell me that you and Ms. Accord knew each other when you were younger, you forgot to tell me that I’m going to your old high school, and now you forgot to tell me that you’re from Paris?! Is there anything else you forgot to tell me?!** ”

Melody went silent for a bit, thinking of anything else.

“Oh, yeah. I can speak French fluently.” She said.

“ **Are you serious?!** ”

“Yeah, I’m serious. Want me to prove it?”

“Prove what?” Sig asked. He was walking up to us with Klug and Chu with him.

“We just found out that Melody’s from France and can speak French fluently.” Peruvis said.

“And we want to make sure she isn’t messing with us.” Lidelle added.

“Chu, you speak French, right? Can you translate what my mom’s saying?” Amitie asked.

“Sure, Amytee.” Chu said. Melody then cleared her throat as she faced Chu.

“ _Bonjour, ma belle fille et mes amis. Je m'appelle Melody. Agréable de vous rencontrer tous._ ”

“She said: _Hello there, my lovely daughter and friends. My name is Melody. Nice to meet you all._ ”

“ _Je suis ici en vacances avec ma fille pour célébrer l'anniversaire de sa petite amie._ ”

“She said: _I'm here on a beach vacation with my daughter to celebrate her girlfriend's birthday._ ”

“ _Joyeux anniversaire, Raffina._ ”

“She said: _Happy birthday, Raffina._ ”

“Holy crap!” I said.

“She really can speak French!” Lidelle said.

“My mind is blown!” Ally said.

“ _Est-ce suffisant pour vous, Ami?_ ”

“She said: _Is that enough proof for you, Ami?_ ”

“Yes, Mom. I believe you now.” Amitie said.

“Good.” Melody said with a smile.

“Still, it was quite a shock when we found out you were a French girl going to a Japanese high school, Melody-senpai.” Yumi said.

“What in the right mind made you want to leave the love capital of the world and live in Suzuran all by yourself?” Rulue asked.

“I just got bored with it.”

“You got bored? With Paris? Only you could ever say that, Melody-senpai.” Lily said.

“Well, I still had fun when I brought you guys there to meet my family. Harmony even told me herself that she enjoyed it.”

“Where is Harmony-senpai, anyway?”

“ **M-M-M-Melody!!!** ”

“There she is.”

We looked over to see Ms. Accord hiding behind the door with only her bright red face showing. Popoi was sitting on her head trying not to laugh at his owner’s embarrassment.

“Geez, Harmony. What took you so long?” Melody asked.

“ **D-D-D-Don’t give me that! H-H-H-How could you make wear something so embarrassing?!** ”

“You say that to everything that’s not your usual clothes.”

“And we even spent that entire day picking out swimsuits for all of us.” Yumi said.

“And that one I picked out matched you perfectly, Harmony.” Rulue added.

“ _B-But…_ ”

“Just come out already, Harmony!” Melody said.

…

“ _F-Fine…_ ” Ms. Accord finally gave up. she then opened the door fully to reveal that she was wearing a swimsuit similar to Rulue’s, but the mini-shirt was white, the skirt was light-blue, and instead of flowers, there was musical notes on the mini-shirt, skirt, and sandals.

We were blown away with seeing our old teacher in such a swimsuit, let alone any at all.

“W-Wow.” Ally said.

“Ms. Accord…” Lidelle said.

…

“ **YOU LOOK SOOOO CUTE!!!!!** ” Me and Amitie shouted.

“ **NYAAAAA! So embarrassing!!!** ” Ms. Accord got even redder.

“Oh come on, Harmony-senpai. I think it looks cute on you.” Yumi said.

“It could’ve been worse, meow.”

“See, even Popoi agrees.”

“W-Well…I do like it…a little.”

“See? You look fine.” Rulue said. “Swimsuits look good on you, Harmony.”

“That reminds me…how come you two are wearing shirts?” Ally asked Klug and Sig.

“Does it really matter if we do or not?” Klug asked.

“No, it’s just that boys usually go topless when swimming, right?”

“W-Well, yeah…but I kinda have a really big and deep scar on my back, and I really don’t want to show it.” Sig said.

“And I…don’t really plan on going in the water…like at all.” Klug said.

“That’s not a valid excuse, Klug.” Amitie said.

“Quit being a wimp and just admit it already!” Peruvis yelled.

“Admit what? I’ve got nothing to hide.”

“Klug…you can’t swim, can you?” Lidelle asked.

“Wh-What? O-Of course I can swim. I-I just don’t want to right now. And what does that have to do with me wearing a shirt with swim shorts, anyway?”

By this point we all figured out that Klug can’t swim. But he’s clearly not going to admit it, so we just left it alone…for now.

“And how come you’re not wearing a swimsuit, Harpy?” Ally asked her.

…

“What’s a swimsuit?”

_I’m not even going to bother._

“I’ll tell you later, Harpy.”

_I don’t know Ally has so much patience with her._

“So, that everyone, right?” I asked.

“Except Schezo. I don’t think he’s coming out.” Arle said.

“Figures. That hermit never does anything fun. Unless it involves fighting someone.” Witch said.

“Yeah, true.”

“Well, whatever. Let’s go!” I cheered as most of us ran towards the ocean with no hesitation at all.

 

Everyone was out around doing their own thing. The adults sitting around the lounge chairs, still trying to convince Ms. Accord that she looks good in her swimsuit. Most of us were in the water, with me and Amitie getting out because we were hungry. We grabbed a few snacks from the house and brought it outside in case anyone else wanted some. And we sat on the blanket eating together.

“Having fun, Ami?”

“Yep. Sure am. And especially since I’m with you, Raffi.”

“I feel the same way, Ami.”

We both shared a kiss on the lips (after we swallow the food in our mouths) and wrapped our arms around each other enjoying the other’s company.

“Hey is there any food to eat?” Ally asked as she came and joined us.

“Just these snacks. We have to go the store later and get stuff to cook for dinner tonight.” I said.

“Yeah, we could cook…or we could go to Burrito Bell!”

“Ally, we are not going to Burrito Bell.” Amitie said.

“ _Aw,_ why not? I saw one as we were walking here and I’ve dying to eat some again!”

“No.”

“ _Aw._ ”

“Uh…what’s Burrito Bell?” I asked looking confused as hell.

“You’ve heard of Taco Bell, right?” Amitie asked me.

“Yeah.”

“Well, Burrito Bell is basically Knockoff Taco Bell.”

“Oh.”

“No, it is not! Burrito Bell is **completely** different from Taco Bell! They have tons of burritos.” Ally said.

“Taco Bell has tons of burritos too, you know.”

“Yeah, but Taco Bell’s burritos make you crap all day.”

“So does Burrito Bell’s.” Amitie said.

“Yeah, but it’s not as smelly.”

“Okay, I’m done having this conversation.” I said while getting up from the blanket. “I’m going back in the water.”

“Yeah, me too.” Amitie said.

“Well, I’m going to try surfing a little.” Ally said.

“You can surf, Ally?” I asked.

“No, but it’s worth a try, isn’t?”

“Uh…” We both tried to say something.

“Anyway, let’s get YOLO!”

“What?”

“You know…You Only Live Once.”

“Let’s get You Only Live Once?” Amitie asked.

“That makes sense to you?” I asked.

“You two ask too many questions. You seriously need to get YOLO.”

“But that…” I was going to explain to Ally that what she’s saying makes no damn sense, but Amitie stopped me. Saying to just give it up already.

“ **YOLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!** ” Ally yelled as she ran towards the ocean with a surf board in hand. She jumped in the air and placed the surf board underneath her, preparing to land in the water. She made impact, but…

“ **OWIE!!!** ”

…

“D-Did the ocean just say owie?” I asked.

“Y-Yeah, it did.”

Everyone that was in the water got out once they heard it and were standing with us. Bubbles started forming from the spot Ally landed with her board and out from it popped out what looked like a girl with gills, rubbing the top of her head.

“ _Ouchie, ouchie, ouchie. That really hurt. Just another bad thing that’s happened to me since I got here._ ” The girl whined.

None of us knew what to do or who this girl was. I then looked over to Arle, Witch, and Draco, who were talking amongst themselves.

“Uh, Arle. Isn’t that…” Witch asked.

“Yeah. It really is.” Arle said.

“I’m gonna say hi!” Draco cheered.

“No, Draco! You know how easily scared she is.”

“Arle, you guys know that girl?” Amitie asked.

“Yeah, we do. That’s…”

“ ** _*yawn*_** Hey guys. Why is it so quiet?” Harpy asked as she woke up from her nap. Apparently when me, Ami, and Ally were having that conversation about Burrito Bell, she fell asleep behind us and we didn’t even notice.

“Harpy…look over there.” Witch said to her.

“Huh?” Harpy then looked at the ocean and saw what we were seeing. Unlike the rest of us, who had looks of confusion and a little fear, Harpy grew a look of complete and utter joy.

“ **SERIRI!!!** ”

“ **GAAH!** H-Harpy?!”

Harpy flew over to the girl and latched herself onto her. Giving her as much affection as a pet would when they haven’t seen their owner for a long time.

“ **I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REEEEAALY MISSED YOU, SERIRI!!! I’M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!!** ”

“Y-You did?!...I-I missed you too, Harpy! I-I’m happy to see you, too!” the girl said while blushing.

We had no idea what was happening.

“Hey, Arle. Is that the girl you told me about yesterday?” Sig asked.

“Yeah, that’s her. Harpy’s best friend.” Arle said.

“Harpy’s best friend?” the rest of us asked.

“I’ll explain. Hey, Harpy! Bring Seriri over here!”

“Okay!”

Harpy then flew back to us with the girl hiding behind her. Her arms around Harpy like she’s holding a teddy bear.

“H-Hi…A-Arle, W-Witch, D-Draco. N-Nice to…s-see you…a-again.” She stuttered.

_Whoa. And I thought Lidelle’s stuttering was bad._

“Seriri, you don’t have to be so scared. These are our friends.” Arle said.

“F-Fr-Friends?”

“Yeah. They helped take care of us and we became great friends with them.”

“I-I-I s-s-s-see.”

“ _Seriri…stop being a fraidy-cat._ ” Harpy said.

“Sorry, Harpy.”

“She didn’t stutter that time.” I said.

“Yeah, Seriri’s most comfortable when she talks to Harpy.” Witch said. “In fact, she’s most comfortable whenever she’s **near** Harpy.”

“Really now?”

“Yep! This is my bestest friend in the whole wide world! Seriri!” Harpy cheered. Seriri did a simple wave at us, still a little scared of us.

“Seriri, huh?” Ally asked. “That’s a cute name.”

“Th-Thank…y-you. B-But it’s m-more-so a n-nickname.”

“A nickname?” Lidelle asked.

“M-My real name is…U-Uroko Sakana Bito. **WAH! I HATE THAT NAME SO MUCH!** ” Seriri hid behind Harpy again.

“Uroko Sakana Bito?” Ringo asked.

“It means _Scaly Fish Person_ in Japanese.” Chu said.

“Scaly Fish Person?” Peruvis asked.

“Well, you see…Seriri’s a mermaid.” Arle said.

“ **Huh?!?** ” We all shouted.

It took us a while to notice it because Seriri was hiding behind Harpy so much, but we did eventually gained view of her mermaid tail.

“Woah…” We said.

“ **GAH!** A-Arle! W-Why d-d-did y-y-you s-say th-that?!” Seriri yelled in fear. “N-Now th-they’re…g-gonna…e-e-eat me!”

“Eat you?” We asked.

“Seriri has this fear that since she’s a mermaid, people want to eat her because they’ll become immortal. We keep telling her it’s not true, but her fears and shyness keeps clogging her sense of reasoning.” Witch said.

“I see.” Ally said. “Well, Seriri. I can assure you that no one here is going to eat you.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah, Seriri. You can definitely trust Ally. She’s my bestest friend, too!” Harpy said.

…

“…O-Okay. If you say they’re friendly, Harpy, then I’ll believe you.”

“ **YAY!** ” Harpy cheered as she started nuzzling Seriri on her cheek, which made Seriri blush like crazy.

“Okay I’m starting to see it now, Arle.” Sig said.

“Yeah, it’s pretty obvious now.” Arle said.

“What’s obvious?” Amitie asked.

“I’ll tell you guys later.”

Seeing how Arle know a lot about her friends from her world, one question just came up in my mind and now I want to ask it.

“Hey, Arle. Since Seriri has a real name, does Harpy have one too?” I asked.

“ **Tch!** ” That’s when Harpy froze in nervousness.

“Yeah, she does. Although she hates it a lot.”

“Really? What is it?”

“ **NOT TELLING!!!** ” Harpy yelled.

“ **What?!** ” We yelled.

“Come on, Harpy! We want to know what it is!” Peruvis yelled.

“ **NO! NOT TELLING!!!** ”

“You won’t even tell me?” Ally asked.

“ **NO! NOT TELLING!!!** ”

“ _Aw!_ ”

“Come on, Harpy. I told them my real name. It’s only fair.” Seriri said to her. After giving her a few nuzzles, Harpy finally gave in.

“Okay, Seriri. Anything for my bestest friend.”

Harpy went silent for a bit while her cheeks turned red from possible embarrassment. Then after a few seconds…

“My real name is…Y-Yoko Tamura.”

“Yoko Tamura? Harpy…that’s such a cute name.” Lidelle said.

“ **No, it’s not! It’s a stupid name and I hate it!** ”

“Don’t worry, Harpy. I hate your real name too.” Seriri said.

“Thanks, Seriri. And I hate your real name, too.”

“You know, it makes sense how they’re best friends.” Ringo said.

“Yeah, with their names being Uroko and Yoko.” Peruvis said.

“ **D-DON’T CALLS US THAT!!!** ” Both Harpy and Seriri shouted with blushed faces.

_Wow. This has to be the first time I’ve ever seen Harpy embarrassed since we first met her. It’s actually kinda funny._

“Well, anyway. We’re all about to get something to eat. You want to join us, Seriri?” I asked.

“ **S-Something to eat?! J-Join you?!** ”

“We’re not going to eat you.”

“O-Oh. R-Right. O-Okay th-then, uh…”

“You can just call me Raffina.”

“O-Okay…R-Raffina. Th-Thank Y-You.”

We all went back inside the house to change into more comfortable clothes and eat some food. Seriri kept hiding behind Harpy the entire trip there, with the two nuzzling cheeks every so often. I don’t really get what’s up with these two, but I guess it’s going to take a while for her to trust the rest of us, and get over her fear of being eaten.


	26. Beach Vacation: Explosion Simulator

**Lidelle’s POV**

 

After we introduced ourselves to Seriri, we didn’t really do for the rest of the day. That night, however, our group of girls, plus Klug, Sig, and Chu, were in the big room deciding on what to do for a couple of hours. At first, we just wanted to talk about girl stuff, but we decided against it. Mainly for two reasons: Klug and Sig were with us, and Chu, although a girl herself, wouldn’t understand anything we bring up or wouldn’t bother to pay attention. Or both.

I’m going with both.

“We could play a game together.” Ringo suggested.

“That’s sounds like a good idea.” Raffina said.”

“Yeah…but first, some rules.” Amitie said.

“Rules?” We all asked. Amitie them made a close fist with her right hand and raised up on finger.

“First off, no Panel de Pon.”

“ **What?!** ” Raffina and Peruvis yelled.

“Second, no The House of the Dead.”

“ **Aw, come on!** ” I yelled.

“And third, no Space Harrier.”

“ **Are you serious?!** ” Ally yelled.

“Hey, I’m just being fair to all of us.”

“Alright, fine. Then no Chu Chu Rocket.”

“ **What?! That’s not fair!** ”

“Nice try, Ami! You were just trying to get us to play that game! I saw right through you!”

“Alright, Detective Ally. What should we play then?”

“I don’t know. You banned my favorite game.”

“Ours too.” Me, Raffina, and Peruvis added.

“Can’t we just pick a game and play already?” Feli asked.

“You three haven’t said anything. Got any ideas?” Ringo asked Klug, Sig, and Chu.

“I’m not really knowledgeable in video games.” Klug said.

“More like, the only game Klug’s ever played was Wii Sports.” Peruvis said.

“H-Hey, it still counts!”

“Yeah, but in a way it also doesn’t. Since everyone had that game.” I said.

“ _sigh_.”

“What about you, Sig?” Arle asked.

…

“Sig?”

…

“ **Sig!** ”

“Huh? Oh sorry. I had earbuds on.”

“Earbuds? For what?”

“This game me and Chu are playing. Puzzle & Dragons.”

“ _Ugh…_ ” We all said. (Except Raffina, Klug, and Arle.)

“Seriously? _That_ game?” Amitie asked.

“What’s Puzzle & Dragons?” Raffina asked.

“A never-ending puzzle game that’s really hard to play.” I said.

“It’s not that hard.” Sig said.

“Which one is it?” Ally asked.

“The one on the 3DS.”

“Oh, God! That’s the hardest one of them all!” Peruvis yelled.

“How is it hard? You play it like an RPG.”

“Sig, none of us have the time or patience to play an RPG.” Amitie said.

“A what?” Raffina asked.

“Role-Playing Game.” Feli said.

“Wait, what?”

“Girly.” Us girls said.

“ **I’M NOT GIRLY!** ”

“Gah! We’re getting distracted. And we’ve still don’t have a game to play.” Ally said.

“You have any ideas, Arle?” Amitie asked.

“You just take an orb and move over to ones of the same color.”

“Okay… **Woah! I did a 12-chain!** ”

“That’s pretty lucky for a first time.”

“There’s fire and water flying around! And…grass?”

“That’s how you attack. With Fire, Water, Grass, Light, and Dark magic.”

“ **Woah! So cool!** ”

Arle had lost interest in our debate and went over to learn from Sig how play Puzzle & Dragons.

_Welp. We’ve lost those two._

“Well, this is clearly going nowhere. I’m going back to my room.” Klug said as he got up and headed for the door.

“ _Thanks for the help, Bro._ ” Peruvis said sarcastically.

“So now what?” Ringo asked.

“Really? That’s on here? Huh. Well Thanks, Amira.” Raffina was on the phone with her sister and had just hung up.

“What was that about, Raffi?” Amitie asked.

“I asked Amira if we had any games here from last time. She said we have this fighting game from long ago. Uh, what was is again? Oh, yeah. Gooper Bash Sisters.”

…

The room went dead silent as we starred at Raffina with looks of…I don’t even know how to describe it right now. What she just said just has me in shock. How can anyone be **_this_** oblivious to video games?!

“Uh…Raffi. What did you say it was called?”

“Gooper Bash Sisters.”

“R-Raffina…I-It’s pronounced… _Super Smash Brothers._ ” Peruvis said.

“Huh? But I could’ve sworn it was called…”

“No. It’s not.” We all said.

…

…

“I’m going to bed.” Raffina said with extremely red cheeks. She dug herself underneath her futon to the point where we couldn’t see her entire body anymore.

We didn’t really do anything for the rest of the night after that little experience.

 

The next day Raffina was still embarrassed about the whole game thing, and didn’t want to do anything. While Amitie and Peruvis tried to cheer her up, me, Ally, and Arle decided to just walk around the beach a bit. Sig would’ve came with us, but he and Chu spent all night playing Puzzle & Dragons. So they’re sleeping right now.

“Wait, so Raffina’s never heard of Super Smash Brothers?” Arle asked.

“Nope. She had no idea of its existence. She even called it Gooper Bash Sisters.” I said.

“Gooper Bash Sisters? Ouch.”

“Yeah, poor Raffina. She’s still embarrassed about it, too.” Ally said.

“We should just give her some space for today. Not make her feel any worse.” I said.

“Agree.” Both Ally and Arle said.

“So what’s with the matching white and green t-shirts, you two? Showing off?” Arle asked.

“What? No! This was pure coincidence.”

“Yeah. I didn’t even know Ally had the exact same shirt.”

“Well, at least our shorts and shoes are different.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“Wait, so you’re saying you two are wearing matching bras and panties?” Arle asked.

“ **NO!** ” We both shouted with blushed faces.

“I was just asking. Geez, no need to yell.”

“Arle, I’m pretty sure there is no lesbian couple that does that.” I said.

“Well…maybe Ami and Raffina.” Ally said.

…

“Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.” We all said.

As we kept on walking on the sandy white sands next to this surprisingly crystal clean clear water, we started talking about random girl stuff that might sound stereotypical to most people. Hell, I even found some of it stereotypical. But that didn’t really bother us that much. What did, however, was this loud…

***BOOM***

“ **Whoa! What was that loud noise?!** ” Ally asked.

***BOOM***

“ **There it is again!** ” Arle shouted.

***BOOM***

“ **It sounds like it’s coming from over there!** ” I shouted.

***BOOM***

***BOOM***

***BOOM***

“ **Let’s hurry and check it out!** ”

“ **Right!** ”

The three of us ran towards the area where the strange loud noise was coming from. When we got to an area with a bunch of palm trees, what we saw was…a bit strange.

_Is that…an elephant?_

“ **GRRR…IT’S SO HOT!!! IT’S SO DAMN HOT!!! SO HOT THAT IT’S MAKING ME FILLED WITH RAGE!!! JUST THE THOUGHT OF EVEN BEING IN THIS HEAT IS MAKING ME BOIL WITH ANGER!!! HOW CAN ANYONE LIVE LIKE THIS?! WHOOOOOOOOH!!!!!!** ”

***BOOM***

“Woah! What’s an elephant doing all the way out here?!” I asked.

“And it can talk, too!” Ally said.

“N-No way! He’s here too?!” Arle said.

“Huh? Arle, you know that…guy?”

“Yeah, he’s from my world.”

“Really?” Both me and Ally asked.

“ **Hey! Zoh!** ”

Arle’s yell managed to get the elephant’s attention as he started calming down drastically.

“Huh? Arle? You’re here as well?”

“Yeah, it’s me. It’s been a while since we’ve saw each other, Zoh.”

“So it has.”

“So you really do know him, Arle?” I asked.

“Oh, yeah. Lidelle, Ally. This is Zoh Daimaoh. He wishes to be a king someday and knows everything about, well…pretty much everything.”

“Woah. A future king?”

“That’s so cool!” Ally said.

“Yes, it is. A peaceful and rich country with me as it’s founder and king. Imagining such a dream just gets me all excited… **I COULD JUST EXPLODE WITH HAPPINESS!!! WHOOOOOOOOOH!!!** ”

  ***BOOM***

“ **AHHHHHH!!!! HE’S ON FIRE!!!!** ” Me and Ally shouted in fear.

“ _Yeah_ …that’s actually normal.”

“ **Huh?!** ”

“Zoh easily gets excited or mad at everything, depending on what that thing is.”

…

“What?”

“H-Hey, Zoh. Could you calm down a bit? You’re making it hotter than it’s supposed to be.”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. My bad.” Zoh said as the fire around him magically disappeared.

_This just keeps getting more weird…_

“So like I said, these are my friends Lidelle and Ally. They live in this world.”

“Hello. I’m Ally.”

“I’m Lidelle. Nice to meet you, Mr. Zoh Daimaoh.” I said with a bow.

“Such nice kids. You can just call me Zoh. Nice to meet you both, Ally and Lidelle.”

Zoh seems like a nice guy…well besides the whole “catching on fire” thing. But other than that, he’s fine.

“So, uh Zoh. How did you get here? Did you get zapped by a mysterious lighting bolt, too?” Arle asked.

“Mysterious lighting bolt? No, not really. I came her to look for a few things of mine.”

“Wait, you got here on your own? How?”

“With something called the Green Puyo Hat.”

The three of us went silent for a bit after hearing what Zoh just said. We thought we misheard him, but once he repeated himself, we were dead wrong.

 “ **TH-THE GREEN PUYO HAT?!?!** ” We all shouted.

“Huh? You three know about the Puyo Hats?”

“Yeah, we do.” I said. “How do you know about them?”

“Well, they’re actually mine.”

…

…

“ **WHAT?!?** ” We shouted again.

“Well, they’re _supposed_ to be mine, I mean. They’re a secret royal treasure passed down in my family for generations. Heavily guarded to make sure they don’t fall into the wrong hands. When it was my turn to do such job, they all had suddenly disappeared. And I’ve been looking for them since.”

“Woah…”

“So how do you girls know what they are? Did you find them all?”

“Well, almost.” Arle said.

“Our friend Ami-I mean Amitie has been having problems with the red one.” Ally said.

“Grrr…the red one. Always causing problems. **I BET IT WAS THE ONE THAT MADE THE OTHERS DISAPPEAR!!! I SHOULD’VE ANNIHILATED THE DAMN THING WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!!! WHOOOOOOH!!!** ”

***BOOM***

Zoh caught on fire again as he shook the ground with his massive stomp.

“Zoh! Calm down!” Arle yelled.

“Oops. Sorry.” The fire around Zoh disappeared once again.

“So the Red Puyo Hat is always causing problems?” I asked.

“It is. It’s believed that there’s a demon inside the hat, sealed in there over thousands of years ago. We were never able to figure out who the demon is, how it got in the hat, or why it’s there in the first place. Which is why they were heavily guarded. When they disappeared, it was my duty to retrieve them all. I was so close to getting the Green Puyo Hat, **BUT THEN THAT NUISANCE DEMON KING GOT IN THE WAY!** ”

Surprisingly, Zoh didn’t catch on fire this time. Which is good cause I heard something that was really important to me.

“Wait, nuisance demon king?” Arle asked. “Zoh, you don’t mean…”

“Yeah, it’s Satan. He had the Green Puyo Hat as he opened up a portal. I followed him inside and I ended up here.”

“ _Aw, damnit…_ he’s here too.”

“ _It’s about time…_ ” I mumbled to myself without thinking.

“Lidelle!” Ally whispered to me.

“Huh? What do you mean _It’s about time_?” Arle asked me.

_Now I’ve gone and done it._

“W-Well…Arle, there’s something I need to tell you. I-I well…I actually know Satan.”

“Really?! How?!”

…

…

“…H-He’s actually…m-my brother.”

“Ho-ly crap…”

“And we figured out that he’s in love with you.” Ally added.

“You’re not mad, are you?”

“Well, why would I be mad, Lidelle?”

“Well you say that he caused a whole bunch of trouble in your world, and even said that you can’t stand him.”

“Yeah, but you’re still my friend, Lidelle. Plus, I find it pretty funny that Satan has a little sister. Don’t know why he never brought you up in conversation.”

“Rulue said the same thing.” Ally said.

“Huh? Rulue? She’s here too?” Zoh asked.

“Oh yeah. Some of the other are here with me.” Arle said to him.

“Others?”

“Along with Rulue, there’s also Schezo, Harpy, Draco, Witch, and Seriri. All of us got here by something called the Dimensional Mirror.”

“The Dimensional Mirror? That was here, too?”

“Yeah, but it was destroyed once we all came out.”

“You know about the Dimensional Mirror too, Zoh?” Ally asked.

“Yeah, I do. It’s a mysterious object, so very few people do.”

“I see.”

“So, Zoh. When did you last see my brother?” I asked.

“Well after I got out of the portal, I ended up in front of this weird-looking building. It almost looked like one of his castles, only this one was made of sand.”

“Sand?” We asked.

“Really strong sand, from what I saw. I wanted to go in and take the hat back, but this heat… **THIS DAMN HEAT!!! IT’S TOO HOT FOR ME TO RECLAIM WHAT’S MINE!!! IT MAKES ME SO ANGRY!!! WHOOOOOOOH!!!** ”

***BOOM***

In addition to Zoh’s massive stomp and him catching on fire, he also shot what looked like lava out from his trunk. We ran off trying to not get hit by it.

“ **ZOH!!! PLEASE, STOP!!!** ” We shouted.

“Huh? Oh, sorry. That happens sometimes.”

_This guy…he’s like a living volcano!_

“Well, we’ll help you get the Green Puyo Hat back, Zoh.” Arle said.

“Really? You will?”

“Yeah. Satan’s my brother, so I know how to deal with him.” I said.

“I see. Well, thank you all for the help.”

“No problem, Zoh!” Ally cheered. “Let’s go!”

“ _…get intimate?_ ” I teased.

“Oh my God, I’m gonna punch you!”

I giggled at Ally’s embarrassingly pissed off face, then we went with Zoh as he showed us where my brother’s sandcastle was. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen or heard from him. I’ve got some choice words for him once I see his face.

 

Side note, Ally never did punch me.


	27. Beach Vacation: The Advent Primp

**Ally’s POV**

 

_I should’ve punched Lidelle for that comment when I had the chance…_

Anyway, me, Lidelle, and Arle followed Zoh to this giant sandcastle that he mentioned earlier. He wasn’t kidding about its size, as the thing was huge, and had the design of one of those castles during medieval times.

“Oh geez, another one of his tacky designs.” Arle said.

“He does this a lot?” I asked.

“Yeah. He’s built so many castles that some of them are just flat out abandoned, and haunted by ghosts. They’ve become a real problem back in my world.”

“Arle, let me just say that I apologize for what my idiot brother’s being doing in your world. It’s clear to me that he hasn’t been doing his job at all.” Lidelle said.

“It’s okay, Lidelle. I’ve pretty much gotten used to it. Plus these past two months not having to deal with him and do what I want for a change was the greatest time of my life.”

“ ***giggle*** Well, I’m glad you think that.”

“So is the Green Puyo Hat really in there, Zoh?” I asked.

“Yes. I can sense its power. And it’s going wild, too. Satan must be using it right now.” Zoh said.

“And knowing how powerful Satan is, I can’t even imagine what kind of trouble he’s planning to do with it.” Arle added.

“ **GRRR…THAT PRETTY BOY NUISANCE USING MY PUYO HAT FOR HIS EVIL NEEDS!!! I’LL THRASH HIM IN ENDLESS STOMPS UNTIL HE BEGS FOR MERCY!!! WHOOOOOOH!!!!** ”

***BOOM***

“Th-That’s a bit much don’t you think, Zoh?”

“Y-Yeah, I mean he’s still my brother.” Lidelle said.

“Oh. Sorry about that.”

“Anyway, let’s just get this hat already. I’m getting hungry.” I said.

“You’re always hungry, Ally.”

“So are you, Lidelle.”

“O-Okay, so what’s your point?” Lidelle started blushing, which me laugh.

_Score one for Ally!_

 

With one push on the door from Zoh (the rest of us tried to do it, but couldn’t make it budge. Sand is a lot stronger than it looks), the double doors opened and what we saw inside was…well, I don’t really know how to explain it, but Lidelle and Ally sighed with huge annoyance.

“ _Of course._ ” They both said.

Wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing, so I kept my mouth shut on that one.

What we saw inside was…a…another beach? I’m not kidding when I say this, there was an entire beach inside this castle. And on this indoor beach were a bunch of women, about Melody’s age, just dancing around to some cheesy beach music that you would normally hear in 60’s beach movies. There was also a juice stand, snack bar, palm trees, sand and ocean, there was even an entire sun in here!

_How the hell does one put an entire sun inside?!_

“I-Is this…a beach party?” I asked.

“ _sigh._ Just when I thought Satan couldn’t get any douche-ier.” Arle said.

“You mean this is common?”

“Yeah. He’s always having these parties that go late into the night. It annoys everyone on the outside who are trying to sleep and he never listens to any of our complaints. Not to mention the fact that he surrounds himself with women during the whole time.”

“ _sigh._ My brother is such a perv.” Lidelle said.

“Zoh, please. Whatever you do, try to keep your temper down. One shake or spark of fire could bring this whole castle down.” Arle said.

“Not to worry, Arle. This castle and everything in it is all fake.” Zoh said.

“Wait, what?” Us three asked.

“The Green Puyo Hat has the power to fulfill one’s desires by using illusions. Everything here may look real, but it’s all just an illusion. Satan’s illusion.”

“Even the women?” I asked.

“No. The women are real. It looks like they were attracted to this place.”

“This is just nothing but an embarrassment.” Lidelle said while trying to hide her face of shame. Seeing her like this, it sparked something inside me. If I had to describe it in one word, that word would be…rage. I may not know this Satan guy well (or like at all), but seeing how Lidelle is like this because of her brother’s douchey fantasies just pissed me the hell off. I hate these primpy-ass douchebags and me being around them all the damn time when I was younger is the reason why I became gay in the first place.

“Hey, look. There he is.” Arle said as she pointed to a green-haired guy dancing with a bunch of women around him. That alone filled me with disgust for this guy. I wasn’t going to let this continue. Not again.

“Hey, Zoh. So if I take the hat off Satan’s head, all of this would disappear?” I asked.

“It should. I never tried it myself.”

“All I need to hear.” I said with a grin.

I’ve been keeping this a secret for a while, but ever since Rafisol moved in with us, I’ve been trying to learn a new spell. Whenever I had time, I would go to the park and practice it non-stop…or until one of the explosions eventually ruins my hair. Anyway, I think I’ve mastered it by now, and was ready to use it for the first time.

I raised my right hand in front of me and took a deep breath.

“Ally, what are you doing?” Lidelle asked.

“Just watch.” I said before I activated the spell.

“ **MELODY SCALE!** ”

Once activated, a bunch of tiny musical notes came out of my hand and went over to where Satan was. They circled around his head where the Green Puyo Hat rested and in seconds, warped the hat from his head to my hand. Once that was done, everything that was an illusion started fading away one by one. And it didn’t take long for people to notice.

“Hey! What’s going on?”

“Everything’s disappearing!”

“Do something, Satan-sama!”

_Satan-sama? This guy is a whole new level of douchebag._

As everything inside had faded away, the only thing left was the castle itself. Which started shaking rapidly as it began to disappear slowly.

“ **Let’s get out of here!** ” Arle said as she started running and we followed her out of the sandcastle before it completely disappeared. All the women had ran away from fear of being crushed and it was just Satan laying in the sand face first.

“ **GAH! What the hell?! What happened to sweet paradise?!** ” He shouted.

“Hey, Satan. Remember me?” Lidelle said. The sound of her voice really took him by surprise, cause he jerked back at bit before standing back up.

“L-Lidelle?! What are you doing here?!”

“I should be asking you that, Bro. What was with that indoor beach party with all those women?”

“I was having fun, alright? It’s was guys my age want.”

“Unbelievable…” Arle said.

“ **Arle?! Is it really you?! Oh, my precious fiancé has finally been found!** ”

“ _Oh, geez. Here we go again._ ” Arle sounded annoyed. “Look, Satan. For the last time, **I’M NOT YOUR FIANCE!!!** ”

“You say that, but you’ll come around when you’re older.”

“ **NO I WON’T!!!** ”

“Oh, Arle. When will you grow up already and quit this tomboyish personality?”

“ **I’M NOT A TOMBOY!!! I HAVE GROWN UP!!! AND I HAVE A BOYFRIEND TO PROVE IT!!!** ”

“Well, it’s fiancé, but I guess I can let that sly…”

“It’s not you, Satan.” Lidelle interrupted him.

“Huh?”

“Arle actually has a boyfriend. Someone **_she_** loves.”

“Wha…”

“ **WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!** ”

_This is getting fun to watch._

“B-But, Arle…what about us?”

“Satan, there was no _us_. There never was. You kept making these advances on me and even called me your fiancé when in reality I never felt that way for you. In fact, you often annoy me and everyone else as well.”

“You were too blind and naïve to even notice that this whole thing was one-sided.” Lidelle said.

“ _Just like every other douchebag._ ” I whispered to myself.

“ **Who are you calling a douchebag, you damn brat?!** ”

_Did he hear me?! How?! I whispered that!_

“ _sigh._ Well, whatever. Who is this little brat that stole my fiancé away from me, anyway?”

“That’s none of your business!” Arle yelled. “And quit calling me your fiancé already!”

“ **Hmph.** Then I’ll just have to find this guy myself and… **GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!** ”

“Like hell you will, Satan-sama.”

“ **M-M-M-Mother?!** ”

I don’t know where she came from or how long she’s been here, but Yumi had started grabbing Satan by the ear and pulled it as hard as she possibly could. It looked painful, even from watching it. Thank god Mom didn’t do that to me and Rafisol.

“Mother? What are you doing all the way out here?” Lidelle asked.

“You three were gone for a long time and I got worried. So I came to look for you.”

“By yourself?” I asked.

“Well, no. Not exactly. I had some help.”

We didn’t know who it was that helped Yumi out, but once another person came up to us, it was pretty obvious.

“Oh. So you found them, Yumi?”

“Yep. Sure did. Thanks for the help, Rulue-senpai.”

“ **R-Rulue?!** ”

“Satan? What the hell are you doing here?” Rulue did not look like she was happy to see her ex-crush.

“I was just about to ask him the very same question, Rulue-senpai.” Yumi said.

“I-I…w-w-well…y-y-you see, I-I was…uh…”

“He was using my Green Puyo Hat to satisfy his fantasies. **THE NERVE OF YOU, DARK PRINCE!!! SUCH INDECENCY SHOULD BE PUNISHED!!! WHOOOOOOOOH!!!!!** ” Zoh shouted, followed by a powerful stomp of his foot.

“What’s Zoh Daimaoh doing here?” Rulue whispered to Arle.

“I’ll tell you later.” Arle whispered back.

“Oh really, now? Well, I agree. Such indecency should be punished. Come, Satan. Let’s go think of one. **Together!** ” Yumi said as walked off, pulling Satan’s ear in the process.

“ **OW!** **OW! OW!** **Mother, please let go! It hurts!!!** ” Satan whined.

_What a pansy._

“How long were we gone, anyway?” I asked.

“About 3 hours. Everyone got worried, so we came out to look for ya.” Rulue said.

“I see.” I then turned to Zoh. “Here’s your hat back, Zoh.”

“Thank you, Ally. You’re too kind.” Zoh said.

“Still. It’s odd to see you so suddenly, Zoh.” Rulue said.

“I could say the same, Rulue. Arle told me that you guys came out of a mirror.”

“A mirror? Is that how we got here?”

“Like I said, Rulue. I’ll explain later. Right now, I need to eat something before I pass out.” Arle said.

“Yeah, me too.” Lidelle said.

“Alright!” I cheered. “Let’s go!”

“ _Get… **GAK!**_ ” Before Lidelle could finish her sentence, I punched her in the stomach to shut her up.

_Score two for Ally!_

“You wanna come along, Zoh?” Arle asked.

“I would, but I need to find that red one before it starts trouble again. Such an entity must be destroyed! **AND I’LL BE THE ONE TO DO IT!!! WHOOOOOOOOH!!!!!** ”

***BOOM***

“Alright, then. See you later.”

The four of us waved Zoh goodbye as he walked off continuing his search for the Puyo Hats.

“You know, I was starting to get used to his massive stomps.” I said.

“Yeah, me too.” Lidelle said.

“Yeah, that happens.” Arle and Rulue said.

 

After we walked back to the beach house, we all ate some barbeque that was made earlier and now we were doing our own thing once again. Me and Lidelle were with Ami, Raffina, and Peruvis were out in the hallway talking about what we did today.

“So you ran into your brother at the beach?” Raffina asked.

“And a big…elephant guy?” Peruvis asked.

“Well, the big elephant guy is from Arle’s world. He came here on his own to look for the Puyo Hats. He owns them, apparently.” I explained.

“Woah! He owns the Puyo Hats?! Maybe we could get his help on finding the Red Puyo Hat!” Ami said.

“Yeah, before it does something crazy.” Lidelle added.

“So you guys found the Green Puyo Hat?” Peruvis asked.

“Yeah…my brother had it.”

“What for?”

“Well, based on what Zoh told us, the Green Puyo Hat has the power to fulfill one’s desires by using illusions.”

“Illusions? That’s sounds pretty cool.” Raffina said.

“Yeah, but my brother’s wasn’t. His desire was to have his own miniature beach inside a giant sandcastle surrounded by a bunch of women in bikinis.”

“W-Woah.”

…

“What a douchebag.” Ami said.

“That’s what I said!” I shouted.

“Anyway, we found all four hats! And even know what they do!”

“Well most of them, Ami.” Raffina said.

“The Green one fulfils desires, the Blue one reveals the future, the Purple one bring back memories, the Red one has a demon trapped inside…” Lidelle went down the list.

“What does the Yellow one do, Peruvis?” I asked her.

…

…

“…You know. I…don’t really know. Never worn it myself.”

“What?!” The rest of us yelled.

“You mean you’ve had the Yellow Puyo Hat with you this whole time and never bothered to use it?!” Ami asked.

“Well I wanted to, but after hearing what happened to you, I was too scared to even consider it.”

“Well, we’re going to need to know what it does…so you don’t have a choice now.” Raffina said.

“ _sigh._ I know. Hey! Phoenix!”

“What?! Whadda you want?! I’m trying to relax!” Phoenix yelled through Peruvis’ body.

_It’s so creepy how he’s able to do that…_

“Bring me the Yellow Puyo Hat!”

…

…

…

“ _sigh._ Please.”

“There we go. If I had a gold star, I would give you one.”

“ **Sh-Shut up!** ”

“Ooo. Now you lost it.”

“ **Why you damn little…** ”

“Phoenix, just get the hat please.” Raffina said.

“Fine, fine. Just give me a sec.”

Phoenix gave Peruvis control of her body again while he went and looked the hat. Couple seconds later, the Yellow Puyo Hat appeared in front of us and landed in Peruvis’ hands.

“There. One Puyo Hat. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to sleep.” That was the last we heard from him for the day.

“Well, here goes nothing.” Peruvis said as placed the hat on her head. After seconds of starring at her, nothing happened.

“Well?” We asked.

“I’m not… **WAIT!** I hear something!”

“Really? What?” I asked.

“It…it sounds like…Arle’s voice?”

“Huh? Arle’s voice?” Ami asked.

“Wait! Now I’m hearing Sig’s voice.”

“Sig’s voice?” Lidelle asked.

“I think they’re together…in this room right here.”

“Well, scoot over! I wanna hear!” Raffina said as she got closer to Peruvis. The rest of us did the same and I don’t know how, but we were able to hear Arle and Sig’s voices from the room a few feet from us.

And we couldn’t believe what we were hearing.

“ _Whoa! It’s so big and hard…yet so smooth._ ” Arle said.

“ _You really enjoy rubbing it, do you?_ ” Sig asked.

“ _Yeah, I do. I’ve never seen or felt anything like this before._ ”

“ _You mean you never did this back in your world?_ ”

“ _Well, not really. I never had the time with all the stuff I had to do there._ ”

“ _S-So in a way…I’m your first?_ ”

“ _Y-Yeah…I guess you are. I’m glad that you are, though._ ”

“ _Thanks, Arle. That makes me happy._ ”

“ ** _*giggle*_** _I’m glad I can make you feel this way, Sig._ ”

The five of us were left in complete shock after what we just heard.

“Oh…my…God.” Lidelle said.

“I-Is Arle doing…what I **think** she’s doing?!” Ami asked.

“I-It can’t be! P-Peruvis, is that thing working right?!” Raffina asked.

“H-Hey don’t look at me! I-I heard the **exact** same thing as you guys heard!” Peruvis yelled.

“Holy crap! Who would’ve thought?” I asked.

“Who would’ve thought what?”

“ **GAH!** ” We jumped back a bit to see Chu standing next to us. She had her 3DS with her and was playing Puzzle & Dragons on it.

“C-Chu! D-Don’t sneak up on us like that!” Raffina yelled.

“Sorry, Waffine. But…what are you guys doing?”

“ **N-NOTHING! ABSOLUTLY NOTHING! NOTHING WEIRD HERE!!!** ” We shouted.

…

…

“…O…kay…?” Chu sounded confused, but you couldn’t tell by looking at her face. “…Well, anyway…I need to get my charger, so…”

“ **NO! YOU CAN’T!!!** ” We shouted again.

“Huh? Why not?”

None us knew how to explain what was happening in the room next to us. Never in our lives did we think we ever talk about this, let alone to a 10-year-old girl.

_But I guess someone has to, right?_

“Uh, listen Chu. H-Have you gotten the… _Birds & Bees_ talk?” I asked her.

“What?” Chu asked.

“W-Well…you look old enough to know about it. You want us to tell you?” Lidelle asked.

“What do birds and bees have to do with me getting my 3DS charger?” Chu was getting agitated, but again, you couldn’t tell by looking at her face.

“U-Uh, w-well, y-you see…”

“Look, guys. I’ve gotten to the boss of World 4. And if my 3DS dies because of this nonsense, I’m gonna be really mad.” Chu pushed us out the way and opened the door to the room where we heard Arle and Sig’s voices.

“ **CHU, NO! WAIT!!!** ” We shouted. But it was too late. Chu had opened the door, and while we were expecting to hear dramatized screams, what we did hear…

…was completely different.

“Shigu. Aruru.”

“Oh. Hey, Chu.” Sig said.

“You left your 3DS charger here.” Arle said.

“Yeah, I know. I came to get it.”

“I see.”

“Shigu. Does your arm still hurt?”

“Yeah, but not as much as before.”

…

…

“Wait…what?” We asked.

“Guys? What are you doing out in the hallway?” Arle asked.

“Uh…well…” Raffina tried to answer.

“They kept blocking the door and said something about birds and bees.”

“Oh, God. Guys, please don’t tell me you gave my 10-year-old sister _The Talk_?” Sig asked.

“ **No, but we almost did! What the hell are you two doing in here, anyway?!** ” Peruvis asked.

“I’m helping Sig with his arm.” Arle said.

“His arm?!” Ami asked.

“Yeah. Sig burned it while making the barbeque earlier. I was putting first-aid cream on him.”

…

…

“ _Oh._ ” We all said.

“What did you think we were doing?” Sig asked.

“Uh…” None of us wanted to answer.

“Forget I asked.”

_Does he know?_

“S-So, Sig. You burned your arm, huh? Is that why it’s red like that?” Raffina asked.

“N-No. T-That’s actually a different reason.”

“Really? What is it?” I asked.

“Well, you know…the Bored Soul thing.” Arle said.

“You know, the more I think about that, the more I think that it’s a stupid reason.” Ami said.

“You just don’t get it because you’re not one yourself.”

“What kind of reasoning is that?!” Lidelle asked.

“Look, guys. I would love to sit here and play 20-Questions with you, but I need to get back to healing Sig’s arm. So, if you please.”

“B-But…”

“Bye-bye.” Chu said before closing the door in our faces. With nothing else to do, we went back to our room with disappointed, embarrassed, and curious looks on our faces.

“Well, that was a rip-off.” I said.

“I know, right? Those two are clearly hiding something.” Ami said.

“Yeah. But what?” Lidelle asked.

“Didn’t Sig tell you anything, Peruvis?” Raffina asked her.

“Huh? Why would he tell me?” She asked.

“Well, you did went to his house the day before the trip.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t tell me anything. Nothing important.”

…

…

“You’re lying.”

“What?! How am I lying?!”

“Peruvis, I’ve known you since we were 12. I can tell when you’re lying.”

…

…

“Okay, fine! He did tell me something! But this _something_ is really big and personal to him. So I really think you should hear it from him.”

“Does Arle know?” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah, she knows. I told him to tell her.”

“Ow, wow.” Ami said.

“Okay, then. We’ll just ask Sig tomorrow then.” Raffina said.

“Isn’t tomorrow your birthday, Raffina?” I asked.

“Yeah, it is. Let’s go do something to celebrate, Raffi!” Ami said.

“ _Hmm…_ Well, there’s still the amusement park nearby.”

“Sounds good to me.” Peruvis said.

“We should probably get to bed early so we won’t be tired tomorrow.” Lidelle said.

“Right!” The rest of us cheered.

With us ended the conversation, we decided to go take our bathes so we won’t have to do it tomorrow. Going to an amusement park with my girlfriend. I clearly want to smell good for that.

_Right?_


	28. Beach Vacation: Learning to Date

**Arle’s POV**

 

_Meanwhile, back in Sig’s room…_

“Geez. Those five are just plain nosey.” I said.

“Right? I can’t believe they were listening to our conversation.” Sig said.

“I know! I mean, the fact that we’re dating is not **THAT** interesting!”

…

…

“Sig, what’s wrong?” Sig had started blushing all of a sudden.

“N-Nothing. I-I just realized…th-that we really are dating.”

“O-Oh, yeah. W-We really are…” Now I was blushing.

I know it may sound stupid, but it never really came to mind that me and Sig are…boyfriend and girlfriend. The two of us have been acting like how we were before we confessed: as best friends. We haven’t cuddled up together, we haven’t held hands, we haven’t really kissed since that day. It’s almost like that confession…never really happened. I love Sig, I really do. And he really loves me. It’s just…we really haven’t been showing it to each other. If only…

“Hey! Shigu! Aruru!”

“Huh?!” We both said.

“You guys okay? You two were just starring at each other with blushed faces.”

_Oh yeah. I forgot Chu was here._

“Oh it’s fine, Chu. I was just thinking.” I said.

“Yeah, me too.” Sig said.

“You mean how you two aren’t acting like a real couple?”

“ **GAH! H-How do you know that?!** ” We both shouted.

“Well, it’s pretty obvious. Despite confessing to each other, you two still act like you’re just friends. I wanted to say something, but not in front of the others.”

 _Well at least she’s considerate._  

“Alright, Chu. It’s true.” Sig said. “We’ve kinda been acting like nothing’s changed.”

“Kinda?”

“Ok, exactly.”

“We just have no idea how to…you know…be a couple.” I added.

“Yeah, that’s pretty common.”

“Huh?”

“What, you two really thought that you were the only ones who got giddied up over first relationships? Such discrimination.”

“I’m not in the mood to be insulted by a 10-year-old, Chu.” I said.

“Sorry, Aruru.”

“So how we’re acting…this really is common?” Sig asked.

“Yeah, it is. It usually happens because you two haven’t been spending time alone with each other.”

“Guess we choose the wrong time to confess, huh?” Sig asked me.

“Guess we did.” I said. “B-But then again, you were told about this trip at the last minute…”

…

That’s when I remembered something.

“…A-And I was suppose to tell you earlier…” I finished with a facepalm.

_I feel like such an idiot right now…_

“I-It’s okay, Arle. I-It was a simple mistake.”

“R-Really?”

“S-Sure. I-I mean…I-I’m here with you, right?”

The thought of that made me blush even more. The fact that I was in the same room as my boyfriend, having a conversation with him, was another thing that never came to mind until now.

“Y-Yeah…y-you are.”

“…”

“…”

“You guys know I’m still here, right?” Chu asked after we both went silent for a bit.

“Y-Yeah. O-Of course we did.” We both said.

_Too be honest, no we didn’t._

“ _Right…_ ”

_And I think Chu knows it._

***KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK***

We then heard a knock on the door and heard someone calling my name.

“Arle…you in there?” It was Harpy’s voice.

“Yeah, Harpy. I’m here. Open the door.” I said.

…

…

“Uh…Arle.”

“Yeah, Harpy?”

“How do you open a door?”

_Seriously?!_

“ _sigh._ Hold on, Harpy. I’ll be right there.”

I could hear Chu trying to hold in her laughter. Then I looked over to see Sig doing the same thing.

“Don’t laugh, you two!” I whispered.

“Sorry.” The siblings said.

I got up from the floor and went over to the door to let Harpy in. Only it wasn’t just Harpy. Seriri was still wrapped around her in comfort. She and Harpy haven’t been apart from each other since we found Seriri yesterday. The two are clearly best friends, but someday…Harpy’s going to have to notice that Seriri loves her. I honestly don’t know how she does it, keeping her feelings inside for so long. I sure as hell wouldn’t last, and I don’t know anyone else who would.

“Hey, you guys.” I greeted them.

“Arle!” Harpy cheered.

“H-Hey, A-Arle.” Seriri stuttered.

“You guys need something?”

“Yeah, it’s…what was it again?” Harpy asked Seriri.

“Raffina wanted us to tell them that we’re going to something called an amusement park tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah! That’s it!”

…

“Hey, Arle. What’s an amusement park?” Harpy asked.

…

I went silent trying to think for myself for a bit.

…

“I…I actually don’t know, Harpy.”

“ _Aw!_ ”

“Wait, you’re never heard of an amusement park?” Sig asked.

“No, not really. My world never really had one of those.”

“No amusement park?” Chu asked.

“Well, I’m not sure if this counts, but we did had this circus thing a long time ago.”

“That counts, in a way.” Sig said.

“But that circus thing turned out to be a ploy made by a clone of me in hopes to murder me and become the _one true me_.” I put the last three words in quotes.

“Never mind. That doesn’t count.”

“That was normal to you, Aruru?” Chu asked.

“In a way, yes.”

…

…

“Aruru. Your world is messed-up.”

“I know, Chu. I know.”

“So tomorrow will be the first time you’ve been to a **_real_** amusement park?” Sig asked.

“Well, it’ll be the first time for all of us. There wasn’t much to do over there.”

“I see.” Sig then started blushing again as he turned away from me. “S-So…you wanna, uh…y-you know…g-go together?”

This sudden question took me by surprise. I ended up blushing again myself.

“S-Sure, Sig. I-I would…l-l-love…t-to go with…y-you.” I stuttered.

“Hey, Harpy. Why is Arle stuttering?” Seriri asked.

“I don’t know, Seriri. And I don’t get it, either.” Harpy said.

“Huh? You mean no one told you guys?” Chu asked.

“Told us what?” They both asked.

“Shigu and Aruru are dating.”

“ **WOAH!!! NO WAY!!! SO EXCITING!!!!** ” Harpy shouted.

“Aruru? Shigu?” While Seriri sounded really confused.

“That’s what Chu calls us. She has a bad memory when it comes to names.” Sig said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Like she calls Amitie _Amytee_ , Raffina _Waffine_ , Lidelle _Rita_ , and Peruvis _Peridi_.”

“And they hate those names so much. It’s really funny seeing them react to it.” I added.

“I see.”

“But I remember your name…Seriri.” Chu said.

“ **GAH!** ” Seriri hid behind Harpy once she heard her name being called.

“ _Seriri…_ ” Harpy whined.

“S-Sorry, Harpy. I-I’m still getting used to being near a lot of people.”

“But you got me, Seriri. You got nothing to fear. I’ll be with you forever and ever!!!”

“ **F-F-Forever?!** ” Seriri started blushing.

“Yep! And ever and ever!”

…

“Th-Thank you…Harpy.”

“You’re welcome, Seriri!” Harpy then hugged Seriri and began nuzzling her…

“Nuzzle! Nuzzle, nuzzle!”

…while saying the word nuzzle.

“Harpy. That’s not how nuzzling works.” Seriri said.

“But I like saying nuzzle! It’s fun to say!”

“ ***giggle*** I see. It is fun to say.” Seriri said with a smile while still blushing a little.

_Hang in there, Seriri. Harpy will notice eventually._

“Hey, Seriri. You know what else is fun to say?” Harpy asked her.

“No. What, Harpy?”

“Itty-bitty-titties.”

“ **HARPY!!!** ” I shouted at her.

“Huh? What are itty-bitty-titties?” Seriri asked.

“I don’t really know. But it’s fun to say, isn’t it?”

“I guess.”

“Hey! Amitie and Lidelle reacted when I said it, maybe they know what it means! Let’s go ask them!”

“Okay sure, Harpy.”

“ **G-Guys! W-Wait!** ” I tried to stop them, but I was too late. Harpy and Seriri flew out the door, chanting _itty-bitty-titties_ as they made their way to the room where Amitie and the others were at.

_Oh my God, Harpy…_

“ _sigh._ I better go after them.” I said.

“Good luck.” Sig said to me, which made me smile a bit.

“Aruru.”

“Yeah, Chu?”

“What are itty-bitty-titties?”

We both froze up when Chu asked that.

“Uh…Sig will tell you.” I said.

“ **WHAT?!** ” Sig yelled.

“Yep. He’s an expert on the subject.”

“Really?! Shigu! Tell me, please! I wanna know!” Chu begged her older brother, who looked at me with his normal unamused look, but I can tell he was pissed off.

“ _Have fun, you two._ ” I teased before running out the room, chasing after my own problem that I had to deal with. Let’s just say…Sig’s not going to be the only person who’s going to be pissed off at me tonight.

 

Last night went exactly how I imagined it. Thanks to Harpy and Seriri’s curiosity, Amitie, Lidelle, and Feli were reminded of their small breasts, and got depressed about it. Raffina scolded me about it, while Ally, Ringo, and Peruvis laughed throughout the whole thing. Surprisingly, Rafisol slept through the whole ordeal. I ended up bunking with Sig and Chu that night to avoid any more drama.

The next morning I kept apologizing to the small-breasted trio, and they eventually forgave me (after I did a ridiculous song and dance that embarrassed the hell out of me. Something called… _Caramelldansen_ , or something like that. And yet they say my world is weird).

Anyway…once that got out the way, we were all set to go to whatever this amusement park place…

…when we noticed one thing.

“ **DAMNIT! IT’S RAINING!** ” Amira shouted.

“ **WHAT?! IS IT REALLY?!** ” Raffina asked.

“I’m not lying, Little Sis. The clouds are pissing out there.”

…

Ally, Ringo, Peruvis, and Melody started laughing like crazy. I almost did myself, but managed to hold it in.

“ **The clouds are pissing?! That’s genius, Amira!** ” Ally shouted while still laughing.

“ **I wish I’d thought of that myself!** ” Melody did the same.

“Thank you! I’ve been practicing!”

***BONK***

“ **OW!** ”

“Well, knock it off. It’s not lady-like.” Lily said after hitting Amira in the head.

“Oh come on, Lily. When have I ever been lady-like? It’s not like me.”

“I can back that up.” Ms. Accord added. “You were a real something back then, Amira.”

“ _Aw!_ Ms. Accord! I’m so glad you remembered!”

“How could I not? You and your antics were somehow a daily part of my life.”

“ ***giggle*** Glad I left a mark.” Amira said with a smug look on her face.

“That wasn’t a compliment, meow.” Popoi said.

“Harmony-senpai, let me be the one to apologize for how Miss Amira acted when she was younger. If only she acted like how Miss Raffina does now.” Lily said.

“You mean girly?” Amira asked.

“ **I’M NOT GIRLY!!!** ” Raffina shouted.

“It’s okay, Lily. From the looks of it, she hasn’t really changed.”

“ **HAHA!** Thanks again, Teach!” Amira cheered.

“Again, that wasn’t a compliment, meow.”

“So, anyway. Now what do we do?” Amitie asked.

“I don’t really know. **Why did it had to rain today?! On my birthday of all days?!** ” Raffina started getting depressed about it.

“What’s happening?” As that was going on, Sig had walked up and stood next to me on a nearby wall.”

“It’s raining. So we can’t go to the amusement park thing.” I said.

“Oh. Well that sucks.”

“You’re now waking up?”

“Well, thanks to you, I had to explain to my 10-year-old sister the process of growing boobs. And she wanted **every last detail!** ” Sig got agitated.

“Hey, if I had to suffer, then you had to as well. It’s one of the requirements of being a couple.”

“I **_highly_** doubt that’s true.”

“It isn’t. I just wanted to screw you over.” I said with a smile.

“Well, congratulations. Mission accomplished.” Sig said with a sigh.

“Uh…hey guys. Could you like, stop?” Lidelle asked.

“Huh? Stop what?” We both asked.

“Acting like your love confessions never happened. It’s starting to piss us off.” Ally said. That’s when we both started blushing a little.

“W-We’re working on it, okay? I-It takes time.” I said.

“Y-Yeah. I-It’s not as easy and stereotypical as you four made it to be.” Sig added.

“ **Wait, how are our relationships stereotypical?!** ” Amitie asked, sounding insulted.

“ **Yeah, I wanna know too!** ” Raffina sounded insulted as well.

“Uh…”

“Hey, what’s with all the noise?”

Around this time, Schezo, who I haven’t seen since we first got here, btw, came into the room we were all in rubbing one of his eyes.

“Were you asleep this whole time?!” I asked him.

“Yeah, why?”

“Schezo, you slept for two days straight!”

“Huh. Really? That attic is real comfy then.” Schezo then started stretching.

“Unbelievable.” Was all I could say.

“Hey, Schezo…you’ve said you’re a dark wizard, right?” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah.”

“And you can use magic, right?” Peruvis asked.

“Right.”

“So then you could clear up the rain outside, right?!” Raffina cheerfully asked.

“No.”

“ **WHAT?!** ” Raffina then whined.

“I’m a dark wizard, **NOT** the weather guy. My powers don’t work like that.”

“Th-Then Arle…”

“Nope. Can’t do such a thing.” I said.

“A-Ally?”

“Sorry, Raffina. I can’t do it either. Neither can Rafisol.” Ally said.

“Do what?” Witch asked as she entered the room.

“Clear up the rain outside.” I said.

“It’s raining? Aren’t we in the middle of summer?”

“Yeah, I guess. Not really sure how the weather of this world works yet.”

“Huh. Well, I could probably get rid of it.”

“ **REALLY?! YOU CAN?!** ” Raffina shouted with glee.

“Sure, I guess. I’ll just have to go outside.”

“ **Please! Whatever works!** ”

Witch then went outside and stood underneath the tiny cover over the front porch where Baldanders and Poochy were. She then raised her broom in the air facing the dark clouds and it started to glow.

“ **BLACKHOLE!** ”

She swung her glowing broom at the sky and soon a big black hole appeared. It started sucking up all the rainclouds to the point where their was none in sight. Leaving a bright blue sky in view.

…

…

“Woah.” Melody said after seconds of silence.

“Well, that takes care of it.” Witch said.

“ **YES! THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH, WITCH!!! YOU SAVED MY BIRTHDAY!!!** ” Raffina cheered.

“Oh, it was no problem. Consider it as my birthday gift to you, Raffina.”

“ **YES!!! SO AWESOME!!!** ”

As Raffina was cheering on about her birthday being revived, I just had to ask Witch something. So I took her aside and spoke to her.

“Okay, Witch. What did you do?” I asked.

“What? The rain was being a bother, so I got rid of it.”

“Where did you _get rid of it_ to?”

“ _Well…_ ” Witch turned her head away from me.

“You didn’t…”

“Yeah, I did.” She said nonchalantly.

“You do know that if she ends up coming to this world, she’ll be pissed as hell.”

“Yeah, I know. And I’ll be ready to kick her ass if she ever shows up here.”

“ _sigh._ Why can’t you two just get along?”

“Trust me, Arle. It’s never going to happen. So just drop it already.”

“I would drop it if your fights didn’t lead to world destruction. Do you know how many times I had to break the two of you apart because I feared you both would kill us all?”

“ **But she always starts it!** ” Witch started to whine.

“Look, Witch. Just promise me that if Kikimora does end up in this world, you two won’t bring us to hell with you.”

“Fine, I promise.”

“Good.”

…

…

“ **Hey, wait! What makes you think I’m going to hell?!** ”

“Witch, we killed a bunch of innocent jelly blob creatures by sticking them together and used their souls as magic powers to cast different kinds of spells. We’re all going to hell.”

…

“…W-Well, you didn’t have to put it like that, sheesh!”

“Right. Sorry.” I started rubbing the back of my head.

“Hey, guys! You coming or what?!” Raffina asked us from afar.

“We’re coming, Raffina!” I shouted. Then turned back to Witch. “Hey, let’s keep this conversation between us, okay?”

“Sure thing, Arle.” Witch gave a thumbs up as confirmation.

We then joined up with the others as they continued about the fun and excitement to be have today. I stood next to Sig as we watched the endless chatter.

“What were you and Witch talking about?” He asked.

“Just some other-worldly stuff. It’s too difficult to explain.”

“Fair enough.”

“Hey, is Chu still asleep?”

…

“Oh yeah. I should probably wake her up.”

“You mean she’s still sleeping?! It’s almost 11:00am!”

“Well, she **_would’ve_** been up by now if you didn’t get her curious about itty-bitty-titties.” Sig got agitated again.

“Y-You’re still mad about that, huh?”

“It was the worst night of my life, so yeah.”

“Well, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” I then gave Sig a kiss on the cheek, which made both of us blush, but in a good way.

“Sure. I forgive you.” He said.

“Good.”

“Hey, guys…”

Amitie, Raffina, Lidelle, Ally, and Peruvis got our attention as we turned to look at them.

…

“ **COULD YOU PLEASE STOP ALREADY?!** ” They all yelled.

“Huh? Stop what?” We both asked.

“ **Acting like this relationship is a joke!** ” Amitie shouted.

“ **The more we watch, the more pissed we get!** ” Raffina shouted.

“ **So just get serious already!** ” Peruvis shouted.

“Okay, okay! We’ll try to get serious!” I said.

“Yeah, we’ll do it already! Just calm down!” Sig added.

“ **Thank you!** ” The girls  shouted as we started heading for the amusement park.

“ _Stereotyping asses._ ” Me and Sig both mumbled under our breaths.

When we both realized what we both said together, we smiled at each other, trying to hold in the laughs we were getting, and held each other’s hand as we went to go wake Chu up for the amusement park.


	29. Beach Vacation: Park of Amusement

**Sig’s POV**

 

It took me a while to wake Chu up. Because of the conversation I had to give her thanks to my lovely girlfriend, she didn’t go to sleep until a little after 1 in the morning. Who would’ve thought she was a heavy sleeper? Then again, I’m not one to talk. Chu has to wake me up every day and deals with the same problem too.

After I finally got her up, Chu and Arle wanted to go change. Since we’re going to be outside for pretty much the whole day. So I waited outside our room for nearly 30 minutes while they changed clothes. I nearly fell back asleep while doing so.

_Well I do know one stereotype that’s true: Girls do take a long time to change their clothes._

“We’re finished.” Arle said as she walked out. She had on a blue and white t-shirt and some black shorts. She still had on the shoes from her fighter outfit, though.

Chu had on this punk-like grey tank top with a weird black symbol on the front. On her right arm was a black wristband with spikes on it. She also had on black shorts and had her white sneakers on.

I tend not to question Chu’s fashion sense, mainly because I don’t have the time or patience to do so.

“About time.” I said.

“ _Hey…_ get that stereotype out of your head. It’s not true at all.”

“H-How did you know I was thinking it?” I sounded shocked.

“Please. I’ve heard so many stereotypes by now, that I can know when someone’s thinking of one.”

“That bad?”

“I live with four other girls, two of them keep telling me these _facts_ about boys. So in a way, it is that bad.”

“Rafisol and Melody don’t stop them?”

“Rafisol never knows what we’re talking about and Melody’s too busy writing.”

“She’s writing **again?!** Didn’t her book just came out?!”

“Yeah, but it did so well that Akuma gave her the idea to write a sequel. Right now Amitie made her take a break, but once we get back home, I’m sure she’ll be right back at it again.”

“Oh wow.” Was all I could say.

“If it’s that bad, Aruru, then why don’t you move in with us?”

“ **CH-CHU!** ” I shouted. I didn’t think she would ask such a question.

“Shigu. You’re saying you don’t want Aruru to live with us?” I started blushing once Chu finished asking.

“ **Th-That’s not it! I-It’s just that you asking that question out of nowhere is just…** ”

I turned to Arle to see that she was blushing too. We both ended up starring at each other before coming back to our senses.

“W-Well, i-it’s…n-not like I’m **AGAINST** having you live with us…” I said.

“A-And I-I’m…n-not really **AGAINST** living with the two of you.” Arle said.

…

…

“S-So…y-y-you wanna…m-move in with us?”

“S-Sure. I-I-I would…l-love too.”

“ **YAY!** ” Chu shouted, which startled the both of us. “ **ARURU’S GONNA LIVE WITH US!** ”

“K-Keep it down, Chu.” I said to her.

“Sorry. I’m just so excited. I always wanted an older sister.”

“ _Oh really…?_ ” I sounded insulted.

“ **N-Not that you’re any bad, Shigu! You’re the best big brother ever!** ”

“ _Hmm…_ ”

“ **I mean it!** ” Chu even gave me a hug to prove it.

“Okay, Chu. I believe you.”

“ **YAY!** ” She cheered.

“ ***giggle*** You really are the best big brother ever.” Arle said.

“Yeah, I guess.” I said while rubbing the back of my head with my left hand.

“Geez, there you three are! Everybody’s waiting for you downstairs!” Witch said as she walked up the stairs.

“S-Sorry, Witch. We just got caught up in something.” Arle explained.

“ _Caught up in something, huh? **Ohhohoho!**_ ”

“Witch, stop being a pervert.”

“What? We’re old enough to think such things.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we’re old enough to **do** such things.”

“Well, that’s what you think, Arle.”

“ _sigh._ Let’s just go already. I think the others are getting more pissed.”

“Yeah, they were mad at us for some stupid reason.” I added.

“I’ve started to notice that there are a lot of stereotypes in this world.” Witch said.

“And they’re driving us insane.” We both said.

“I see. Well I don’t blame you.”

“Thanks, Witch.” I said.

“ ** _Ohhohoho!_** Anything for my friend’s boyfriend.”

“W-Witch! Knock it off!” Arle yelled.

“Fine, fine. Let us go.”

We soon joined up with the others and started making our way to the amusement park. I didn’t bother asking Arle what Witch was teasing us about…

…mainly because I already knew.

_I’m not proud of it._

 

It was quite the walk from the beach house to the amusement park. About an hour’s worth. And we still had about a few miles to go. So because of that, Chu got tired. So I had to hold her up on my shoulders while she took a quick nap. I’ve done this plenty times before, so I’m used to it. What I wasn’t used to, was the amount of awe’s I got for doing so.

“Man, Chu’s really lucky.” Amitie said.

“Huh? For what?” I asked.

“For having such a caring big bro like you. I maybe an only child, but if I had an older sibling, I would want that person to be like you, Sig.”

“Wow. Thanks, Amitie. No one’s ever told me that before.”

“Why not? It’s so true.”

“Yeah, Ami’s right.” Raffina added. “Do you know how often I wished Amira would take things more seriously?”

“Judging by what happened the first night we came here, I’d say a lot.”

“ **DING! DING! DING!** You’re right!”

“You know I can hear you, right?” Amira asked, sounding a bit insulted.

“Yeah, I know. That was the point.”

“ _Hey…_ ”

“ _zzz…Shigu…zzz…_ ” As Chu began talking in her sleep, she tighten her grip on me and started drooling.

“Aw, geez. Not again.” I then grabbed a rag I placed in my pocket before leaving the house and wiped Chu’s mouth of the drool.

“ _zzz…thank you…Shigu…zzz…_ ” She somehow knows whenever I do that.

“ _Aw._ That’s so cute. You do care for your sister, Sig.” Ally said.

“I wish **_my_** brother took good care of me.” Peruvis said, glaring at Klug to make a point.

“Isn’t that Phoenix’s job?” Klug asked.

“Yeah, but that damn good-for-nothing wisp just annoys the hell outta me.”

“This _damn good-for-nothing wisp_ is the only reason you’re lazy ass is still alive!” Phoenix had spoken through Peruvis. Apparently, he can posses her and talk through her whenever he needs to. Well, at least that’s what Arle told me.

“ ** _Lazy ass?!_ God, if you were a person right now I would strangle the f*** outta you!!!** ”

“ **PERUVIS!!!** ” The other girls shouted.

“What? You mean I can’t say f***?”

“ **No, you can’t!** ” Raffina yelled at her.

…

“ **Well, why the f*** not?!** ”

“ **PERUVIS!!!** ”

“Look, Peruvis. There are just some words we can’t say because they’re really bad.” Amitie said.

“But we say hell, crap, and damn a lot! What makes me saying f*** any different?!”

“Because there’s a limit to what we can and can’t say! We’re still teens, you know!” Raffina said.

“There’s a limit?” Ringo asked.

“Yeah. There is.” Lidelle told her cousin.

…

…

“Well in that case, f***, sh**, c***.”

“ **RINGO!!!** ”

“What? I was just testing it.”

“ **But that wasn’t necessary!** ”

“No way! You curse too, Ringo?” Peruvis asked.

“Yeah, but only when I’m either by myself or with other girls. This is actually the first time I’ve cursed in front of adults.”

“ _Gee, I wonder why…_ ” Yumi said under her breath.

“Well, holy sh**! I’m surprised as f***!”

“Yeah, me too. People would just yell at me for cursing in public.”

“ _Again, I wonder why…_ ” Yumi said, this time with a huge facepalm. Me and Arle were trying not to laugh throughout this conversation. But the more they cursed, the harder it got.

“But just a few questions. What do you normally call chicken?” Peruvis asked.

“Well if I’m eating it cooked, then I just call it chicken. But if I see one of a farm of some sorts, I just straight up call it a c**k. Without even knowing what gender it is.”

“Me too! But sometimes I get confused about it. There are times where I would say _let’s go eat some c**k_ instead of _let’s go eat some chicken_.”

“Does that really happen?” Ally asked Klug.

“More than you think.” He said.

“Ha-ha! Holy sh**, that’s f****** hilarious!” Ringo said.

“Right? And you know what the funny part is? I don’t even like c**k!”

“Oh my f****** God…”

“I know!”

“When will this horrible conversation end?” Lily said to herself.

“Aw come on, Lily. It’s not **_that_** bad.” Melody said.

“Yeah, I’m enjoying it.” Amira said.

“ _Of course you two are enjoying it._ ” Amitie and Raffina retorted.

“Okay, one more. You said c*** earlier, but what exactly is a c***?” Peruvis asked.

“It’s slang for a woman’s genitals. But I just call it my p****”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Like when I masturbate, I continuously rub my p**** until I c**.”

“You masturbate too?”

“ **NOW YOU’RE COMFORTABLE BRINGING THIS UP?!?!?** ” Phoenix shouted. I went ahead and gave him a pat on the back out of pity.

“Yeah, but I can never go deep. My p****’s too tight for me to do so.”

“Even with toys?”

“Toys?” Arle asked.

“Not the toys you’re thinking of.” I said.

_I’m not proud of the fact I know what kind they’re talking about._

“Yeah, even with toys. It f****** sucks, too! I’ve always wanted to have my first sq****!”

“ **Wait, seriously?! You’ve never sq****** before?!** ”

“Nope. Not even once. Is it really good?”

“Oh God, it’s the best feeling in the world! It’s like you’re being f***** by a d*** and they c** inside you!”

“Wow! That f****** good?!”

“That. F******. Good.”

“Holy sh**. I’m missing the f*** out.”

“Yeah, you f****** are.”

“ **OH MY GOD! WILL YOU TWO JUST STOP ALREADY?!?!** ” Raffina shouted. Her face was as red as Ringo’s hair.

“I swear, that was the worst 5 minutes of my life!” Amitie added, whose face was also completely red.

“ **Hmph.** You all are just not mature enough.” Peruvis said.

Me and Arle couldn’t hold our laughter anymore and broke down once it was all over.

“See? Sig and Arle are mature.” Peruvis added.

“ _Really?_ ” Ally said to us.

“We’re sorry! But that was just too funny to not laugh at!” Arle said.

“I’ve haven’t had a laugh like that in years!” I said.

“Well, you’re very f****** welcome.” Both Peruvis and Ringo said, which made us laugh even harder.

“I just want this day to end.” I could hear Raffina say.

“Me too, Raffi. Me too.” Amitie said while comforting her.

I wasn’t too sure on how a conversation about me being a good big brother turned into one where I was on the floor laughing like crazy, but it was definitely a good talk. Well…to me, Arle, Melody, and Amira. The other’s…not so much.

Once we eventually stopped laughing, we continued our walk to the amusement park with new found respect (or disgust) for two of our friends.

 

Later on, we finally arrived at the amusement park. And just as I thought, Arle was blown out of her mind. She was jumping around like a little kid in excitement. Although I shouldn’t really be saying that, because Chu was doing the same thing. I had to hold on to the both of them to calm them down.

We then split into groups, with me, Arle, and Chu being in one. Once we went our separate ways, Arle got hyper-active again.

“ **OH WOW! SO COOL! THERE’S SO MUCH TO DO HERE! SO MANY GAMES! SO MANY RIDES! SO! FREAKING! AMAZING!** ”

“Arle. Calm down.” I said while grabbing her hand.

“R-Right. Sorry.”

“Geez, Aruru. You’re more excited than me.” Chu said.

“How can I not? This amusement park place is awesome!”

“Yeah, but we haven’t even done anything yet and you’re already jumping like a little kid on a sugar rush.” I said.

“ _Hey…_ ” Arle and Chu got insulted by my last sentence.

“Sorry.”

“So what first?” Arle asked.

“How about some games?”

“Shigu! Let’s do that one!” Chu shouted. She was pointing to that one game where you shoot at stuff and whatever you knockdown, you win. I never liked this game…or and amusement park game…or the amusement park as a whole for that matter. They always cheat and scam you out of your money, and the rides are total crap. I really hope Arle doesn’t notice my current mood, because I really want her to have a good time here.

“So what do you do here?” Arle asked me.

“You take this toy gun and shoot it at the stuff on the self there. If they fall over, you win that prize.”

“Really? That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“That sounds easy!”

“Yeah. _Sounds_ easy.”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

_Oh boy. Noe I’ve done it. Might as well be honest with her._

“ _sigh._ Look, Arle. To be honest, I really don’t like amusement parks.”

“You don’t?”

“Why not, Shigu?” Chu asked.

“I don’t really have a good explanation. I just don’t enjoy them. I only came here to make you two happy. Sorry if me being a let down ruined your time he…”

Before I could even finish my sentence, Arle had came up to me and kissed me on the lips. I haven’t felt this in feeling in quite a while. Arle’s soft lips against mine…I nearly forgot what a kiss was like. But not I remember it as a pleasant experience.

After a few more seconds, Arle parted away from me and wrapped her arms around me. I had a full, bright red blush on my face as we starred at each other continuously. I really didn’t know what to say. I mean…Arle’s my girlfriend, but her just kissing me on the lips like that, without any warning what so ever…I’m still getting used to such a thing known as “kissing”.

“A-Arle! Wh-What was that about?!” I stuttered. I then noticed that she had tears in her eyes and some even ran down her face. I was starting to get worried.

_Uh-oh! Did I hurt her in a way? I hope I didn’t._

“You came here…despite hating such a place…just because you want to make me happy? ***sniff*** Sig…that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. You truly are the best boyfriend ever! **I love you so much!** ”

“I love you too, Arle. With all my heart. You’re the number one person in my life.”

***CLEARING OF THROAT***

“W-Well, besides you, Chu.” I quickly said.

“Y-Yeah, no doubt. Y-You’re definitely number one in Sig’s life.” Arle quickly added.

Chu did a huge sigh as she shook her head in half annoyance, half defeat.

“Geez, if you two keep this up, you’re gonna end up acting like Amytee and Waffine.”

“ **Like THOSE two?! As if! We’re nothing like _those_ two!** ” We both shouted.

“Like _who_ exactly?”

“ **Tch!** ”

We both then turned around to see Raffina and Amitie standing behind us. We were pretty sure they heard us insulting the way they do their relationship, so we tried not to look at them.

“You two can’t ignore us much longer.” Amitie said.

_Crap. She’s right._

We eventually faced the two girls and apologized for insulting their love life. They forgave us…after we had to agree to pay for dinner tonight. I had more money than Arle, so I told her that I will pay it on my own.

“So what were you two doing, anyway?” Raffina asked.

…

…

“Uh…nothing.” We both said.

“ _Really?_ ”

“Yes, really.”

“In fact, we were just about to sit down somewhere.” Arle said.

“Sit down? You guys are tired already?” Amitie asked.

“In a way, yeah.” Arle secretly grabbed my hand and held it tight with her own. The warmness from her hand made me blush a little, but luckily the others didn’t notice.

“What do you mean, _in a way_?”

“Uh…okay, I’ll be honest. I don’t like amusement parks.” I said.

“You don’t like them? Why not?” Raffina asked.

“I just don’t find them fun at all.”

“Aw come on, Sig. It can’t be just that.” Amitie said.

“At least walk around with us. Maybe you’ll change your mind if you play a few games.” Raffina said.

“I highly doubt it, but okay sure.”

So for the next few hours, Amitie and Raffina did all they can to convince me that amusement parks are fun. We rode all the rides and played most of the games, but I still didn’t change my opinion on this place. I was about to just call it quits and sit down, when Amitie kept saying that there’s one more game we haven’t played yet. I figured we could get this one game over with so I could just go home already, so I didn’t fight against it.

The last game was another shooter game. This time with one of those red and white targets instead of random stuff. The toy guns looked less realistic than the other one, and the prizes were all stuffed animals. One of them grabbed Arle’s attention as she kept starring at it deeply.

“Whoa…that one right there is so cute!” She said while pointing at it. When I did find it, I was a bit skeptical on it being “cute”.

“Uh…you mean the Kitsune?” I asked.

“Kitsune?”

“Japanese for fox.” Chu said.

“I see. Well yes. I think the kitsune is cute.”

“Really?” I sounded shocked.

“Well, just this one. It’s soft and pudgy look reminds me of a friend I used to have.”

“You mean Carbuncle, right Arle?” Amitie asked.

Arle did a small nod to answer Amitie’s question.

“Carbuncle? Who’s that?” I asked.

“Oh, right. I never told you. Carbuncle is this cute, yellow, rabbit-looking creature who was my best friend back in my world. We did everything together, despite me always looking for him most of the time. When I came out of that strange mirror that day, I realized that he was left behind. I haven’t seen him since, and based on what Akuma told me, I’ll never will.”

While Arle was explaining, I saw tears run down her eyes. These weren’t like the tears from before. These were tears of sadness and loneliness. I know, because I’ve made those tears myself. I’ve had horrible experiences which gave me such tears, and to see them again, on someone I care about, not once, but twice…it really hurt me inside.

I ended up hugging Arle and repeatedly telling her that it was okay. She eventually stopped crying and was able to talk properly again.

“So you want to play the game?” I asked her.

“Yeah! I’m gonna win that…what’s it called again?”

“A kitsune.”

“ **Right! I’m gonna win that kitsune!** ”

“You seem eager, young lady. Care to try?” The middle-aged guy at the counter asked.

“You betcha!” Arle cheered.

“We’ll help you too, Arle! Right, Raffi?” Amitie asked her girlfriend.

“Sure will!” Raffina said.

“Me too, Aruru! I’ll help too!” Chu cheered.

“Thanks, you guys!”

“Oh? So four people are playing? Then that’s $7 each.” The guy said.

Once the girls each paid $7 each, the target started moving rapidly back and forth. Each girl started shooting at the target as they only had a minute to knock it down. Every shot they made missed the target. Soon there was only 10 seconds left and all four of them were scrambling to shoot the target. By the last 3 seconds, one of the bullets hit the target, but…

“ **YES! I GOT IT! I HIT THE TARGET!** ” Arle shouted with glee.

***YOU LOSE!***

“ **WHAT?!?!** ”

“Sorry, girly. You didn’t knock it over.” The guy said with a smug on his face.

“ **But it hit the target! It should’ve knocked over because of that!** ” Amitie shouted.

“Didn’t you learn physics in school, kid? It doesn’t work like that.”

“ **That’s a load of crap! You clearly scammed us, you asshole!** ” Raffina shouted, getting mad rather quickly.

“Says the sore loser. Now scram, you brats! Go cry in the corner like the babies you are!”

“ ** _Why you cocky little…_** ” As Raffina was about to assault this guy for scamming her out of her birthday money, I took out all of my own and slammed it on the counter.

“Hey. I want next round.” I said.

“ **Sh-Shigu, are you insane?! That’s all of your money!** ” Chu shouted.

“Yeah, I know.” I replied before looking back at the guy. “Hey. I want to make a deal.” I said to him.

“ _A deal_ , huh? What do you have in mind?”

“If I lose this rip off of a game, you keep their money, plus all of mine.”

“ **S-SIG!!!** ” Raffina yelled.

“ _Ooo_ , interesting. And if _you_ win?”

“If I win, I keep my money, get theirs back, that stuffed kitsune over there, and…”

“ _And…_ ” The girls asked.

“… **ALL THE MONEY IN YOUR REGISTER!** ”

“ **WHAT?!?!?** ” Everyone shouted.

“You heard me. **Every. Last. Cent.** ”

“ ** _Grr…_** You’ve got guts, kid. A whole lot. But I’m pretty sure most of it is just you being cocky.” The guy said.

“Do you accept?” I asked, starting to get impatient.

“You’ve got a deal, kid!”

“Sig, have you lost your mind?!” Arle asked me.

“Trust me, Arle. I know what I’m doing. Just watch.”

Arle starred at me deeply before giving me an answer.

“O-Okay, then.”

I set the money down and moved back from the booth. Once I was far enough, I took my jacket off and wrapped around my waist.

“Good luck, kid. You’re gonna need it.” The guy said before starting the game.

I smiled as I raised my left arm in front of me and a dark blue energy sphere started forming from it. Once it was big enough to destroy the target and not anything else…

“ **HAIDORENJIA!** ”

I shot it and it blasted to smithereens. To the point where its past existence was eradicated.

Everyone was beyond shock. They couldn’t believe was just happened or why it happened in the first place. Well, everyone except Chu, of course.

“What…what the… **WHAT THE HELL?!?!?** ” The guy shouted.

“So that’s my money + their money + the stuffed kitsune + everything in the register, right? I’ll just take everything and go, thank you.” I said with a smug on my face.

“ ** _Grr…_** damn you, you brat! I’ll make you pay for this!”

“Yeah, whatever. Bye now.” I said once I got the stuff wagered and walked off without a care in the world. I was such in a good mood, I forgot that I was with four girls at the moment. With one of them being my sister, and another my girlfriend.

“Sig… **WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!** ” Arle, Amitie, and Raffina asked.

“Oh that? That’s a power I learned because of the fact that I’m a demon. No big deal.”

“Oh. I see.” Arle said. She accepted the answer, but the other two didn’t.

“ **YOU’RE A DEMON?!?!?** ” Amitie and Raffina shouted.

“Yeah. And so is Chu.”

“ **Seriously?!** ”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Chu answered.

“You already knew this, Arle?” Amitie asked.

“Yeah. He told me the day we confessed. We’re trying to keep it a secret, so can you two not tell anyone?”

“S-Sure. B-But does this mean you’re not a Bored Soul?”

“No. Peruvis made that up to cover for us.” I said.

“Woah. I never thought Peruvis would help out like that.” Raffina said.

“Yeah, she really bailed me out there. Anyway, here’s your money back.”

“Wow! Thanks, Sig! I really got to pay you back for this!”

“Uh, do you really? I mean, it is your birthday and all.”

“You kidding? You got my birthday money back **PLUS** everything in that scammer’s wallet! You’re a true hero, Sig!”

“You’re truly the nicest boy we know!” Amitie said.

“Really? Well…thanks, you guys.” I was truly touched by those statements.

“Oh. Here’s your stuffed kitsune, Arle.”

“ **YAY! Thank you SOOOO much, Sig!!!** ” Arle cheered as she hugged her new stuffed animal. “ **It’s the exact same size as Carby! It’s like he’s in my hands right now!** ”

Arle then wrapped her arms around me and gave me possibly the longest kiss we’ve ever had since we became a couple. She then parted from me and starred at me with her orange eyes.

“You really, truly are…the best boyfriend in the world. I love you, Sig.”

_Oh, God. She’s so cute when she says that. Or anything for that matter._

“I love you too, Arle.” I said before returning her hug.

“Finally. You guys are serious about this relationship.” Amitie said.

“Yeah, we are. Are you guys happy now?” Arle asked.

“Yep. More than ever. A perfect way to end off a birthday at the amusement park.” Raffina said.

“So being alone with Amitie wouldn’t do it for you?” I asked in a teasing way. It worked, because Raffina was blushing red.

“ **Th-That’s not what I meant! Ami is the most important person in my life and she makes every day special!** ”

“ ***giggle*** It’s okay, Raffi. I understand.” Amitie said after kissing her girlfriend. We laughed with them a little before Raffina was able to calm down.

“Happy birthday, Raffina.” The four of said, before meeting with the others and went back to the beach house to spend the last night here.   


	30. Revenge of the Red Puyo Hat (Part 1)

 

**Sig’s POV**

 

The next morning, we packed all of our stuff and were on our way back to Primp the same way we got here: by train. It took a couple hours to get to the beach area, so it’s going to take the same amount of time to get back. But I didn’t care. Not only do I get to spend some time with Arle, but I can get some sleep in the process…

…or so I thought.

“You know that it’s creepy when you sleep with your eyes open?” Arle asked me.

“What? I don’t sleep with my eyes open.”

“Yeah, you do. We noticed it when we ate ice cream at Lemres’ shop.”

“It’s super creepy. Especially since you have a red eye and a blue eye.” Amitie said.

“D-Do I really sleep with my eyes open?” I asked Chu, who was sitting next to me.

“Not all the time, but when you do it’s super creepy. I sometimes get hesitant to wake you up in the morning.”

“ _Aw geez…_ ” I started covering my face from embarrassment.

“Lighten up, Sig. Everyone has embarrassing things about them.” Raffina said.

“Yeah, it’s true.” Ally added. “Like how Ami still wears teddy bear panties.”

“ **ALLY!!!** ” Amitie yelled.

“I didn’t need to know that.” I said.

“Well, it was just an example.”

“How does that relate to me sleeping with my eyes open?”

“Well, in a way… **GAH!** ”

“ **Shut up, Ally!** ” Amitie shouted while twisting Ally’s left ear.

“ **Okay, okay! I give! Uncle! Uncle! Just let me go!** ”

Amitie did let go of Ally’s ear and she was rubbing it with one of the ice cubes from her drink.

“So any other examples…that doesn’t involve underwear?” I asked.

“Well…there was a time where Ally had a huge crush on me.”

“ **AMI!!!** ” Ally shouted.

“Wait, really?”

“I know. I couldn’t believe it when I first heard it.” Arle said.

“Yep. Back when we were little, she would cling on to me and say **_Let’s fall in love!_** every day.”

“W-Wow.” Was all I could say.

“ **B-But I’m completely over it now! All of my love is for Lidelle and Lidelle only!** ” Ally yelled.

“ _Aw!_ That’s so sweet, Ally.” Lidelle said as she kissed her girlfriend and cuddled her like a teddy bear.

“So does that help, Sig?” Amitie asked.

“Yeah, I guess.”

I then heard my phone ringing and looked at who was calling. When I saw the name, it shocked me a little. I didn’t think this person would call me.

“Hey, Sig. Who’s Ayano?” Ally asked as she lunged forward to see my phone.

“Uhhh…I’ve got to take this.” I said as I scooted out the row of seats and headed to the train’s bathroom.

“Hurry back.” Arle said.

I went inside the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I then took out my phone and answered the call.

“Hello?”

“ _Siiig! When are you gonna get here?! It’s getting worse!_ ”

“Geez, Ayano! You couldn’t pick a worse time to call! The rest of my friends nearly found out!”

“ _Well, sorry! It’s just…hey wait! What do you mean ‘the rest’?_ ”

“Crap…”

“ _Sig! Did you tell people you’re a demon?!”_

“W-Well…only four of them…”

“ _That’s four too many!_ ”

“I know. It just happened.”

“ _sigh. I can’t be mad. My friends are starting to get suspicious, too. I may have to tell them soon._ ”

“Is it really that bad?”

“ _Yeah. My right arm is now completely black and shaped like a claw. And I now have a purple left eye and black right eye._ ”

“I see. It really has gotten worse.”

“ _Is there any way you could get here sooner?_ ”

“Well…”

“ _Come on, Sig! Please?! We’re family! A demonic family, but still a family!_ ”

She did have a point. Other than Chu, Ayano and her mom are the only family I have left. It may have been 10 years since we’ve seen each other, but I seriously need to keep her around. I don’t think I could take losing another family member.

“Okay, Ayano. We’ll be there tomorrow.”

“ ** _YES!!! Thank you, Sig! You’re a life-saver!_** ”

“C-Come on. Stop sucking up to me.”

“ _Fine, fine. By the way, who exactly knows about your secret?_ ”

“Well, just a few girls. One knew from the very start and bailed me out of trouble.”

“ _From the very start?!_ ”

“Yeah, apparently she’s a tortured soul and all.”

“ _A tortured soul?! Sig, where the hell did you and Chu moved to?!_ ”

“Someplace called Primp Town.”

“ _Primp Town?_ ”

“It’s 30 minutes outside Suzuran City.”

“ _Oh, I see._ ”

“Then two more girls found out yesterday when I used my arm to destroy a target game.”

“ _Sig…_ ”

“There’s a good reason for that! I was trying to get their money back plus win a kitsune plush for my…g-girlfriend.”

“ ** _Your girlfriend?!_** ”

“Yeah, I got a girlfriend. She’s the one person I told myself.”

“ _I see. Well I hope I get to meet her sometime. Anyway, see you tomorrow, Sig._ ”

“Alright, Ayano. See ya.”

I hung up the phone and took a sigh of relief and despair.

_I know I’m gonna get it from Aunty when she finds out I told people, but it’s a risk I’ll have to take._

I went ahead and opened the door and as I did, I heard a bang sound and someone whining in pain.

“Ow! Did you had to open the door so hard, Sig? Pretty sure you gave me a lump.”

“Huh?”

I then saw Amitie, Raffina, Lidelle, Ally, and Peruvis standing in front of the bathroom door. It didn’t take me long to figure out what they were doing there, and I obviously got annoyed.

“Where you guys listening to my conversation?” I asked.

“Uh…no?” They lied.

“ _sigh._ ”

“Okay fine we did. You were acting weird when that phone call came up so we were curious.” Amitie said.

“Sorry, Sig. I tried to stop them, but you know how girls are when it comes to gossip.” Arle said.

“Hey, Little Miss Hypocrite. You’re a girl, too.” Raffina said, sounding insulted.

“Yeah, but I don’t do all that gossip stuff. It’s not like me.”

“Man, Witch was right. You really are a tomboy.” Ally said.

“ **I’M NOT A TOMBOY!!!** ”

“It’s okay, Arle. At least you tried.” I said.

“Thanks, Sig.” Arle replied with a faint blush.

“So, Sig. Who’s this Ayano chick, huh? You doing a threesome now?” Peruvis asked.

“ **No! I’m not!** ” I yelled. “Ayano’s my cousin. She needs my help with something, so me and Chu are going to visit her tomorrow.”

“Your cousin? I didn’t know you had a cousin.” Arle said.

“Yeah, it’s been 10 years since we’ve seen each other. So it’ll be quite a reunion.”

“Wow! That’s a long time.” Lidelle said.

“So what’s it about? The fact that she’s a demon, too?” Raffina asked.

“H-How much did you hear?!”

“Most of it.”

“By the way, when were you going to tell me and Lidelle that you and Chu are demons?” Ally asked.

“I wasn’t going to.”

“ _Aw!_ What?!”

“And yes, it’s about that. _Sigh._ And I already told her it was just four people.”

“You could just lie.” Peruvis said.

“I’m not going to lie to my cousin who I haven’t seen in nearly a decade.”

“Yeah, that’s probably not a good idea.” Amitie agreed.

“Now can you guys move? I want to go sit down.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

Once everyone got out the way, we went to got sit back down at our table where Chu was asleep there.

“Chu. Chu, wake up.” I said while shaking her body.

“Huh? Oh hey, Shigu. Are we home yet?”

“No, not yet. Remember our cousin Ayano?”

“You mean Yono? Yeah, what about her?”

“So I’m guessing Yono is…” Arle asked.

“How she remembers Ayano’s name.”

“I see.”

“Well, we’re going over to see her tomorrow.”

“Really?! We’re going to see Yono?! **YAY!** ” Chu cheered.

“Has Chu met Ayano before?” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah, when she was one.”

“And now I get to see her again! Thank you, Shigu! This is the best birthday present ever!”

“Birthday present?” Everyone asked.

“Chu’s turning 11 in three days.” I said.

“Great. Now we’re going to the same high school as an 11-year-old.” Peruvis said.

“Well, at least we’re friends with her already.” Amitie said.

“Anyway…” Arle said. “Since you won’t be here to celebrate it…”

“ **HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHU!** ” Everyone cheered.

“Thank you, everyone!” Chu said with a huge smile.

“So we got about an hour left before we get to Primp. What do you guys want to do now?” Raffina asked.

“Well, I don’t know about you girls, but I’m going to take a nap. I’m so in need of one.” I said.

“Try not to sleep with your eyes open this time, Sig.” Arle said.

…

…

I looked away from everyone with a faint blush of embarrassment on my cheeks. Arle knew I was upset, and hugged me in an attempt to make cheer me up.

“I was trying to forget that.”

“Sorry, Sig.”

 

**Arle’s POV**

 

During said hour-long left trip back home, Sig and Chu went back to sleep, as they have to go to where their cousin lives immediately after getting off the train at Primp. So the rest of us went to check up on the others. Feli, Ringo, and Rafisol were sitting together at a table a few feet from ours. The three of them have become rather good friends while at the beach house. And now they look like they’ve known each other since childhood.

“Hey, guys. What’s up?” Amitie asked.

“Oh hey.” Ringo said. “We weren’t doing much, just talking.”

“About what?”

“Well, Feli’s being teaching us everything about charms and hexes.”

“ _Feli…_ ” Raffina got a little annoyed.

“What? I’m not casting them. I’m just showing them.” Feli said, in her defense.

“ _It’s fine, Onee-chan. Nothing to worry about._ ” Rafisol added.

“Sis, what do you even plan to do with charms and hexes?” Ally asked.

“ _I dunno._ ”

“ _sigh._ Just don’t mix them up with your mage spells, okay? We don’t know what will happen if they do.”

“ _Okay, Onee-chan._ ”

“Here’s your Triple Chocolate Chip Pancakes w/ extra maple syrup, Miss.” One of the servers said as she placed a really huge plate of pancakes in front of Rafisol.

“ _Thank you, Ma’am._ ”

“Sis, what the hell is that?!”

“ _Brunch._ ”

“But we ate breakfast before we left!”

“ _But I’m still hungry, Onee-chan!_ ”

“ _sigh._ Fine. Just scoot over. You’re not gonna finish that on your own.”

“ _Okay, Onee-chan._ ”

Rafisol scooted over and let her sister sit next to her. As Ally got closer to her twin, she got a better look at the massive stack of pancakes she ordered.

“G-Geez, Sis. Y-You were planning on eating all this?”

“ _Yeah, why?_ ”

“This seems a bit much, don’t you think?”

“ _…Not really._ ”

“ ***giggle*** I think Rafisol’s got your endless appetite, Ally.” Lidelle said.

“You’re one to talk, Lidelle.”

Ally then took a bit of the pancake stack and her eyes widen big like she was blinded or something.

“Oh my God… **THESE ARE SO DAMN GOOD!!!!** ” She shouted.

“Really?” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah! These might be better than that Double Mocha Ice Cream Sundae you like so much!”

“Hold up! Now you’re just bluffing! There’s no way that’s true!”

“Try it for yourself! You don’t mind, right Sis?”

“ _Go ahead and try it, Lidelle._ ” Rafisol said.

Lidelle sat next to Ally and took a bite of the chocolate pancakes. Like her girlfriend, her eyes widen big when she eventually swallowed the thing.

“Oh my God…” She said.

“Right? Better than the Double Mocha Ice Cream Sundae, right?” Ally asked.

“No, I’m not going to admit that. But these Triple Chocolate Chip Pancakes w/ extra maple syrup are **delicious!** ”

“ _Do you guys want some?_ ” Rafisol asked us.

“N-No. We’re good.” The rest of us said.

Rafisol then continued to eat the pancakes with Ally and Lidelle while the rest of us watched.

_I don’t understand. How can one person, let alone three, have **THIS** big of an appetite?_

**_30 SECONDS LATER…_ **

“ _Aw!_ That was so delicious!” Ally said.

“Probably my best memory of this trip.” Lidelle said.

“Yeah, mine too. Thanks for the food, Sis.”

“ _You’re welcome, Onee-chan._ ” Rafisol said.

“Unbelievable.” The rest of us said.

 ** _*BURP*_** All three girls burped.

“And disgusting.” We added.

“You guys missed out big time.” Ally said.

“A-Anyway…Lidelle, I should tell you that I’m going back to Suzuran today.” Ringo said.

“Huh? Really?” Lidelle said.

“Yeah, I have to go back so I can get ready for the new school year.”

“Oh yeah. Once we get back, we’ll have one more week of summer break left.”

That’s when the rest of us realized the same thing.

“Wow. By this time next week, we’ll be high school students.” Raffina said.

“Holy crap. Is this real?” Peruvis asked.

“Yeah. It’s so real.” Lidelle said.

“It’s really happening.” Ally said.

“Woah…high school. That’s a huge milestone.” Feli said.

“High school…I finally get to experience what that’s like.” I said.

“We all do, Arle.” Amitie said.

“So you girls finally realized it?” Melody asked as she and Lily walked up to us.

“Y-Yeah. We did.”

“Ha. And you call me forgetful, Ami.”

“Y-Yeah, yeah, Mom. You win. I get it.”

“Glad to see you’re just as forgetful as your girlfriend, Miss Raffina.” Lily said.

“ **L-LILY!** ” Raffina shouted in embarrassment.

“Hey, Melody. I’ve been meaning to ask you this…What was your time like in high school?” Ringo asked.

“You’re asking Melody-senpai?” Lily asked.

“Hey! Like your time was even better!” Melody sounded insulted.

“I’m not saying it was better, it’s just you barely did anything school-related.”

“I did too! It just took me awhile! What with me being French and all.”

“Don’t use being foreign as an excuse.”

“Anyway. To answer your question, Ringo, my time was an amazing and fun experience. They say high school is the best three years of your life, and it was true for me… _except that one day, but I don’t want to talk about it._ ” Melody whispered that last part.

“Huh? Talk about what?” I asked.

“ **N-NOTHING! N-N-NOTHING AT ALL!** ”

_I could’ve sworn she said something else._

“A-Anyway…with me being from France, it took me a while to learn any English. Luckily Harmony had a translator with her.”

“Ms. Accord knew French?” Ally asked.

“No, but Popoi did. For some reason.”

“I see.”

“So that’s how you two met, huh?” Lidelle asked.

“Yeah, but to be honest, she wanted nothing to do with me…or anyone else for that matter. She was so shy and timid, she only talked to Popoi. I thought it was funny, I stuck around. And we eventually became best friends.”

“Wow…that sounds like something you do now, Mom.” Amitie said.

“Whatever, Ami.”

“So did you two meet Lily?” Raffina asked.

“Well, it was a year later when me and Harmony were second-years. We found this abandoned clubroom in the school and we would hang-out there to do whatever. But one day, we got caught. And the only way we could keep using it was by starting a club. So that we did.”

“What club was that?” I asked.

Melody and Lily then looked at each other with a smile on their faces and then turned back to us.

“It was called the _‘What?! Aw, Hell No! Hold Up! Huh?! Oh, Okay.’_ Club.” They both said together.

…

…

…

“What the hell?” We all said.

“You seriously called your club that?” Feli asked.

“Well, no. That’s what we _wanted_  to call it, but the student council shot it down.” Melody said.

_I don’t blame them._

“We eventually changed it to the Unofficial Club.” Lily added.

“The Unofficial Club?” We asked.

“It was a club that didn’t behave like the others. We did what we wanted when we wanted.”

“It was our way of telling the student council to suck it!” Melody added.

“I hope you didn’t actually tell people to suck it, Mom.” Amitie said.

“Uh….” Melody looked away from her daughter.

“To answer your question, Miss Amitie, she did.”

“Gee, thanks for ratting me out, Lily.”

“You’re welcome, Melody-senpai.” Lily giggled.

***BUZZZ***

_‘NEXT STOP, PRIMP TOWN. PRIMP TOWN, NEXT STOP.’_

“Hey, We’re here.” Ally said.

“Well that kept us busy for a while.” Raffina said.

“I’ll go wake up Sig and Chu.” I said.

“Alright. We’ll meet you guys at the exit.” Amitie said.

“Okay.”

I left the other girls and headed back to where Sig and Chu were. When I got there, what I saw was just the cutest thing ever. The siblings were resting on each other, still fast asleep. Chu had her head on Sig’s shoulder while Sig’s red arm was wrapped around her. It was so sweet.

_Damn I wish I knew how to use this cell phone thing Ally keeps talking about._

“Sig…Chu…wake up.”

“Huh? Oh hey, Arle.” Sig said.

“Hi, Aruru.” Chu said.

“Guys, We’re back in Primp. Get your stuff ready.”

“Oh really? That’s good. We could just buy tickets for the next train.” Sig said.

“Where does your cousin live, anyway?” I asked.

“Somewhere in Tokyo.”

“ _To-ky-oh?_ ”

“It’s a city in Japan.”

“ _Ja…pan?_ ”

“Wait, did no one tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Primp Town, Suzuran City, Tokyo…They’re all cities in Japan.”

“Japan, huh? So that’s the name of this world?”

“I guess, yeah.”

“Although most people in Primp and Suzuran speak English. While most people in Tokyo speak Japanese.” Chu said.

“Oh geez. That sounds rough.”

“But Ayano speaks both languages, so it’s fine. Plus I got Chu.”

“Not to worry, Aruru. I’ll help Shigu translate for him.”

“Well…okay.” I said. “So what bags are you two taking? You’re suitcases?”

“No. we’re just taking backpacks filled with a few clothes and important stuff.” Sig said.

“The suitcases would just slow us down.” Chu said.

“I see. Well we better go meet up with the others. They’re waiting for us.”

“Alright.”

After we got off the train, Sig went to go purchase two train tickets for where ever this Tokyo place is. The next one was leaving in 17 minutes, so they decided to stay behind. Ringo’s train was leaving around the same time, so she’s staying with them too. We each said our goodbyes and left the train station to go to each of our homes. The whole time, I was trying not to shed a tear. I was really going to miss Sig. Not being with him for three days isn’t going to easy, but I’ll manage…

…

…Somehow.

 

**Ally’s POV**

 

Arle looked really depressed when we left Sig and Chu at the train station. She kept starring at the window while we drove our way back home, drawing random doodles on the pane while sighing every few minutes. It was heartbreaking to watch for the rest of us.

“Cheer up, Arle. Sig’s only going to be gone for about 4 days.” I said.

“I know, Ally. But something inside me is telling me that it’s 4 days too many. I sound so possessive right now and I don’t know why.”

“Those are your emotions, Arle. It’s proof that you love him.”

“Ally’s right, Arle. _Surprisingly…_ ” Ami added.

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that last part, Ami.” I said while sounding insulted.

“So where did they go to visit their cousin, anyway?”

Arle thought to herself for a bit while trying to remember what Sig said on the train.

“Uh…he said something about another… _city_ , whatever that is. I think he said it was called… _To-keeyo_ …or something like that.”

“Huh? You mean Tokyo?” Ami asked.

“Yeah, that was it! Tokyo!”

“Wow. Who would’ve thought?”

“Right?” I said.

“You guys know what it is?” Arle asked us.

“Yeah. We all used to live there.”

“Really?”

“Sure did. Ami and Melody lived a few houses down from where me and Sis lived. Don’t you remember, Sis?” I asked Rafisol.

“ _Tokyo…? We used to live there?_ ”

“Y-Yeah, Sis. We did remember? It was us, Mom, Dad, and Chupei.”

“ _…Oh yeah. I remember. That was the name of it?_ ”

“…Y-Yes, Sis. It was.”

“ _Oh._ ”

_I think I now understand why Mom thought it was a good idea to have Rafisol live with us…_

“What was you guy’s life like there?” Arle asked.

“Well…me and Sis lived with our parents while Ami lived with hers. We had a cat named Chupei, but she died due to an uncurable illness.”

“ _Aw._ I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks, but there was nothing we could do to save her. So we made her final moments extra special.”

“ _Rest in peace, Chupei. Rest in peace._ ” Sis said as she started to cry. I then held her tight as she let some of her tears out on me.

“ _Onee-chan…I miss Chupei._ ”

“I do too, Sis. I do too.” I tried to hold in my own, but a few did slip out.

“I’m sure Chupei’s even happier where she is now, Rafisol. And is looking after you from there.” Ami said.

“ ***sniff*** _Thank you, Ami._ ”

“So what about your parents? What were they like?” Arle asked.

“Well…after we were born, our parents got a divorce. Turns out they were best friends at first. So when it was finalized, they went back to being just that. Both still took care of us, just at different times and places.”

“I see.” Arle then went silent while looking away from us. I can tell from her behavior that she wanted to ask a very specific question. One geared towards Ami, no doubt.

“It’s okay, Arle. I know you want to ask.” Ami said. I guess she knew as well.

“R-Really, Amitie? I-Is it really okay?”

“Yeah, it is. And I’ll tell you everything.”

“O-Okay, then.”

Ami took a huge deep breath before remembering all the stuff that happened back in Tokyo. I noticed her forming tears in her eyes. But before I could say anything, she wiped them away and started explaining.

“Back home…Mom and Dad were always fighting about something. It first started when I was around 14-years-old. I had no idea what they were fighting about, but like most girls at that age, I was a huge daddy’s girl. I loved him so much, some might say I loved him more than I did Mom. But then…then…something inside him changed. He wasn’t the Dad I remembered. He became more violent towards Mom. Beating her up and leaving her all bloody. He even started yelling and cursing at us, and I had no idea why. But then one day…he started attacking me too. Beating me up with his hands and throwing sharp glass at me. Every day for the past year, my dad would beat us non-stop. The bruises he would leave on us were getting more and more noticeable by our friends, and word eventually got out about the assaults. My dad found out about this, and he got angry. More like, angrier than he usually did. The beatings got worse that night, down to the point where I lost consciousness and have multiple injuries. External and internal. He got arrested that night, and a little while after that, we fled here to Primp.”

“Last I heard, he’s doing life in prison. I hope that bastard dies a slow and painful death!” I added. Thinking of the guy who nearly killed my best friend and her mom made me boil with rage. But I eventually calmed down, for Rafisol’s sake.

“W-Wow. A-Amitie…I’m sorry that happened to you.” Arle said.

“Thanks, Arle. But now, all of that…is starting tie in with the Red Puyo Hat.” Ami said.

“Right. The Red Puyo Hat. Did anyone say anything about it? Like if they found it or not?”

“No. Not a word.” Ami sighed.

“Hey, Arle. You think Zoh might have more info on it? Stuff that could help us catch it?” I asked her.

“Not sure. I forgot to ask. Hopefully we can meet up with him again soon.”

“Huh? Who’s Zoh?” Ami asked.

“The big elephant guy we told you guys about. We found him at the beach.” I said.

“Oh yeah.”

Then Ami’s phone started ringing and she went ahead to answer it. When she did, she jumped a little from the person shouting in her ear. She then placed the call on speaker.

‘ ** _AMIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!_** ’

“ **Y-Yu! Calm down! You almost blew out my ear!** ” Ami yelled.

‘ _Sorry! But we really need you to come to the museum!_ ’

“Huh? You mean now? We just got back from the beach and we’re tired.”

‘ _B-But it’s really important!_ ”

“How important? It isn’t extra work, is it?”

‘ _No! It’s about the Red Puyo Hat!_ ’

“ **TH-THE RED PUYO HAT?!** ” Me, Ami, and Arle shouted.

‘ _It showed up just recently and tried to destroy the other hats! We fought it off, but then it escaped again!_ ’

“I-It came back?!” Arle shouted.

“To destroy the other hats?!” I shouted.

“Yu! Tell Akuma we’ll be right there!” Ami said.

‘ _Be careful, Ami!_ ”

‘ _Don’t die._ ’ We could hear Rei say to us.

‘ _Meow._ ’

‘ _Kat said don’t die._ ’ Rei said to us again.

“Th-Thanks, Rei…” Ami said while she, and us two, were having a sweat drop moment. Then she hung up the phone.

“Mom, can you take us to the museum?” Ami said to Melody.

“S-Sure, sweetie. W-We’ll be there in a few minutes.” Melody stuttered. Which was odd to us, because she normally doesn’t stutter.

“Hey, Melody. You okay?” I asked.

“Y-Yep. N-Never better, Ally.”

“But you’re stuttering your words, and even shaking a bit.” Arle said.

“ _Are you sick, Melody?_ ” Rafisol asked.

“N-No. I-I’m fine, girls. L-Let’s just get to the museum.”

We didn’t really ask Melody any more questions after that. Her behavior was just…off, for me. I started noticing right around the phone call with Yu. I’m starting to think…that Melody knows more about the Red Puyo Hat than we think. But what? And why is she hiding it from her daughter?

_I’m going to find out! No matter what it takes!_

 

Once we got to the museum, we went over to Akuma’s office where we found him, Yu, and Rei (& Kat) inside. The office was a mess. Books and papers all over the floor along with shards of glass from the windows. The only thing that was intact were the cases that held the Blue and Purple Puyo Hats. It was good to know that the Red one wasn’t strong enough to break them, but also a scary thought that it tried to destroy them.

“Woah…look at this place.” Arle said.

“It looks like something exploded in here.” I added.

“The Red Puyo Hat did all this?” Ami asked.

“I’m afraid so, **KUMA!** It was a powerful foe, but we managed to protect the other Puyo Hats, **KUMA!** ” Akuma explained.

“It was insane. That much power inside just a simple beanie…it sounds so unreal.” Yu said.

“Meow.”

“Kat was scared.” Rei said.

“We’re sorry we weren’t here to help defend them.” Ami said.

“It’s okay, Amitie. In fact, it may have been for the best that you were not here, **KUMA!** ”

“Really?”

“What make you say that, Akuma?” I asked.

“Because no doubt about it, the reason why it came back to destroy the other hats was to make it easier for it to destroy Amitie, **MA, KUMA, KUMAAAA!!!** ”

“D-D- **DESTROY ME?!?!** ” Ami shouted before nearly fainting from fear. I managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

“Th-Thanks, Ally.”

“No problem, Ami.” I said.

“But…I just don’t get it. Why does that hat want to destroy Amitie so much? And why did it go to such great lengths by even attempting to destroy the other two hats?” Arle asked.

“Maybe I can answer that.”

We heard a deep male’s voice come from behind us. We turned around to see Ami’s old classmate Tarutaru coming inside the room.

“Tarutaru. So glad you could join us, **KUMA!** ” Akuma greeted him.

“Looks like I was too late, though. The damage here looks horrible.”

“It’s fine. No one got injured and the two hats are safe, **KUMA!** ”

“Well that’s good, at least.”

“Hey, Tarutaru. You know the reason why the Red Puyo Hat is after me?” Ami asked with some fear still inside her.

“I may, but it might not be accurate.”

“Please. Anything would help at this point.” I begged.

“Well, okay.” Tarutaru cleared his throat before he continued. “Because of my knowledge of the Blue Puyo Hat, I’m able to know the secrets of the other four. With these secrets, I’ve researched their history, how they become to be, and any known way to control their powers. I managed to find some information about them.”

“Like what?” Yu asked.

“As some of you know, the Blue Puyo Hat reveals the dark future of the wearer’s closest friends, and the Purple Puyo Hat makes the wearer relive past dark memories.”

“Peruvis has the Yellow Puyo Hat. We found out that it could let whoever’s wearing it listen to other people’s conversations.” I said.

“Wait, What?” Arle asked, sounding mad. I guess she remembered that we were spying on her and Sig back at the beach house.

“S-Sorry, Arle.” Both me and Ami said.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Tarutaru confirmed it.

“And we found the Green Puyo Hat just recently.” Arle said.

“You found the Green Puyo Hat, **KUMA?!** ” Akuma asked.

“How? Where was it?” Tarutaru asked.

“Well…”

“ **I FOUND THEM!!!** ”

Just as Arle was about to explain, we heard someone yell while the floor was shaking around us. Not long after, the door busted open and it spawned a great amount of dust to fly around. Once it cleared up…

“ **I FINALLY FOUND THEM!!! I FOUND THE REST OF THE PUYO HATS!!! RELEASE THEM, VILE FIEND!!! OR FACE MY EXPLOSIVE WRATH!!! WHOOOOOOOOOOH!!!** ”

  ***BOOM***

“ **Z-Zoh! C-Calm down! It me, Arle!!!** ”

“Arle? What are you doing here?”

“These are my friends. We’re all trying to find the Puyo Hats, too.”

“Friends? So does this one count as your friend?” Zoh said as he pulled someone off of his back and showed us. We were shocked to see who it was.

“ **G-GUYS!!! H-HELP ME!!! THIS WEIRD ELEPHANT GUY JUST GRABBED ME OUTTA NOWHERE AND KEPT CALLING ME A THEIF!!!** ”

“ **Z-Zoh! That’s our friend, Peruvis! She didn’t steal the hats!** ”

“Oh. I see.” Zoh then placed Peruvis down and she ran towards me in fear for her life.

“W-Who is this guy?!” She asked me.

“This is Zoh Daimaoh. He came from Arle’s world looking for the Puyo Hats. He also own them.”

“H-He **OWNS** the Puyo Hats?! That’s insane!”

“So that means I can finally get rid of this thing! It was taking too much space anyway!” Phoenix said as he popped out of her back. He held the Yellow Puyo Hat in his hand and he was spinning it around with his finger.

“Yeah, good for you.” Peruvis said sarcastically.

“The Yellow and Green Puyo Hats…now we have the remaining four!” Yu cheered.

“Yay.” Rei said.

“Meow.”

“The Green Puyo Hat has the power to fulfill one’s desires through illusions, is that right?” I asked.

“Yep. That’s it too.” Tarutaru said.

“So then…what about the Red one?” Ami asked.

Both Tarutaru and Zoh went silent at that moment. They know something, but it looks like they’re both hesitant to tell.

“If either one of you know anything, it would be wise tell all, **KUMA!** ” Akuma said.

“Alright.” Tarutaru said. “The Red Puyo Hat…is a demonic assassin.”

We all froze in pure shock and fear once we heard that.

“ **D-D-D-D-D-D-DEMONIC ASSASSIN?!** ” We shouted.

“Born from the deepest depths of Puyo Hell, the Red Puyo Hat was created to serve whoever summoned it from it’s slumber. The summoner would place the hat on his or hers head and it will read their mind. Searching for the one person they hate so much, they want them dead. Then the hat goes out in plain sight. Waiting for the right moment…to murder its target.” Zoh explained.

“M-Murder?!” Ami said in a strong state of fear.

“Amitie. Do you know anyone that would hate you so much for this to happen?” Tarutaru asked.

“N-No. No one comes to mind. I can’t possibly think of anyone that could hate me.”

_But I bet I know someone who does…_

I looked over to Melody, who hasn’t said a word since we came here. Her back was turned away from us and her hood was over her head, trying to go unnoticed.

“Melody. You know something, do you?” I asked her.

“Wh-What?! N-No! Of course I don’t!”

“ **Cut the crap, Melody! I know that you know something about this damn hat! Now stop being retarded AND HELP YOUR OWN DAUGHTER!!!** ”

“…”

“M-Mommy…” Ami said to her with a look of pure fear and despair.

“…”

“…O-Okay. I do know who it is. In fact, there’s only one person who could do this.”

“Really? Who?” Arle asked.

…

…

“Come on, Melody.” I started getting impatient.

“Okay, okay.” Melody said before taking a huge deep breath. “The one and only person I know who could do such a thing…is your father, Ami.”

As I looked at Ami, I can tell by the look on her face that she was hurting all over. Internally and externally.

“N-No…no way…i-it can’t be…m-my father…wants me dead?”

“What the hell?! What kind of father wants their own daughter dead?!” Peruvis asked.

“Ami’s father was a sick and heartless person. He assaulted us both every day for a year, and one night…”

“One night, he almost killed us.” Ami interrupted her mother.

“A-Ami…th-there’s actually more to that.”

“Huh?”

“The truth is…you were the only one who survived.”

“Wh-What? What are you saying, Mommy?”

“I’m saying…I died.”

“ **WHAT?!?!?!?** ” Me, Arle, Peruvis, and Yu shouted. Ami just broke down crying on the floor. Hearing for the first time that her mom died during the assaults destroyed her sanity.

“ **WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!** ”

“S-So…i-if you died, th-then how are you here?!” I asked.

“Well…it’s because of this.”

Melody reached into her shirt and took out a red and black jewel hanging from a black string around her neck. It was shiny as hell, almost blinding me. But I did get to see it.

“ **M-Melody! Th-That’s a…That’s a Soul Crystal, MA, KUMA, KUMAAAA!!!** ” Akuma shouted louder than usual.

“ **A SOUL CRYSTAL?!?!** ” The rest of us shouted.

“ **M-Melody! How did you get a Soul Crystal?!** ” Yu asked.

“Right before we graduated, Harmony gave me this as a present. She told me to always keep this on me, and when if something happens to me that results in me dying an early death, place this around my neck, and wait a few hours. Once that happened, I came back to life. But with a different soul. People who use Soul Crystals in order to live the rest of their lives are know as a rare kind of tortured souls: the Reborn Soul.”

We sat there in pure shock after hearing about Melody’s true self. How Ms. Accord knew this would happen, and gave Melody a Soul Crystal to save her life…it’s somewhat scary, but it really does prove that Ms. Accord and Melody truly are best friends. It makes me question what I’ve done to save Ami’s life.

“Mom…how come you never brought this up until now?” Ami asked.

“Because I never thought I had to. But when I heard that the Red Puyo Hat had tried to kill you back then at the forest, I knew it had to be your father. He still thinks I’m dead, and now he wants to make sure that you are too.” Then Melody got on her knees and started crying. “ **AMI! I’M SORRY! I’M SORRY FOR KEEPING SO MANY SECRETS FROM YOU! I WAS ONLY TRYING TO PROTECT YOU, BUT I FAILED AT THE ONE THING A MOTHER SHOULD ALWAYS DO! I WAS TOO GODDMAN CARELESS! PLEASE! HAVE IT IN YOUR HEART TO FORGIVE ME! YOU’RE THE ONLY FAMILY I HAVE LEFT!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!** ”

_Whoa…this is the first time I’ve seen Melody cry like this, or at all! She really must be sorry for all this._

Ami then got on her knees to Melody’s level and hugged her as tight as she could possibly can as she broke down crying too.

“ **MOMMY! I FORGIVE YOU! I WILL ALWAYS FORGIVE YOU! I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU! DEAD OR ALIVE, YOU’RE STILL MY ONE AND ONLY MOMMY!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!** ”

The mother and daughter duo continued to cry together while wrapped in each other’s arms. It was a touching moment for all of us. I was crying full fledge tears at this point, and so were the others. But then I wiped them away and grabbed hold of both of them.

“Ami. Melody. What just happened was really, really sweet. But now we have a new and bigger problem to deal with.”

“Ally’s right, **KUMA!** We need to get you two to a safe place immediately, **KUMA!** ” Akuma said.

“Someplace big, wide, and open should do the trick.” Tarutaru added.

“Lidelle’s house is all of those things! We could stay with her!” I said.

“ _Onee-chan. I’m staying with you._ ” Rafisol said.

“Yeah, me too!” Arle said.

“No friend of mine is going to be killed by a damn beanie!” Peruvis said.

“Nyahaha! Let’s see this demonic assassin fight off against a tortured soul!” Phoenix said.

“And I bet Raffina and Lidelle will help too! We’re all here and willing to protect you, Ami!”

Ami looked at all of us as she shed more tears down her face. This tears, unlike ones before, were tears of happiness and hope. She grabbed onto me and hugged me tight as she let said tears of happiness and hope out of her eyes.

“Ally…everyone…thank you! **THANK YOU ALL! YOU’RE ALL LIFE SAVERS! I’LL BE FOREVER GREATFUL FOR THIS!!!** ”

These words that came out of my best friend’s mouth were truly the best things I ever heard form her. I wrapped my arms around her and enjoyed every last minute of this moment.

_Ami. This is why…you were my first love._

           


	31. Revenge of the Red Puyo Hat (Part 2)

**Lidelle’s POV**

 

“W-Wait! Slow down! Let me make sure I got this right! So you’re saying the Red Puyo Hat is a demonic assassin sent here to kill Amitie?!”

“Yes!”

“And the one who summoned it was her own father?!”

“Yes!”

“And the only person who knew about it was Melody…because she actually **DIED** during the assaults?! And she’s only alive because of the Soul Crystal given to her by Ms. Accord?!”

“Yes!”

“W-Wow. I-I can’t believe it.”

I was just lounging around at home when Ally and the others came rushing in, with Amitie looking extremely panicked. I asked what happened, and this is what Ally told me.

“So we need a place big, wide, and open enough for Ami to hideout in. and your house was the first place I thought of. So can we please stay here, Lidelle?” she begged.

“Well…I don’t know. Is it okay with you, Mother?”

“Of course it is, Sweetie. I couldn’t possibly let the daughter of my best friend live in fear, now can I?” Mother said.

“Not to worry, Mel! I’ll make sure that hat comes nowhere near Amitie! It’ll taste my lovely fists before that ever happens!” Rulue said.

“Thanks, Rulue!” Melody cheered.

“ ** _Ohhohoho!_** They don’t call me The Fighting Queen for nothing!”

“No one calls you that, Rulue-senpai.” Mother said.

“Wh-What do you mean?! People gave me that name out of respect.”

“Okay, first off, you made up that name.”

“And second, people called you that only out of fear that you’ll beat them to a pulp.” Melody added.

“U-Uh, w-well…” Rulue didn’t say anything else and just turned her head in embarrassment while Melody and Mother laughed a bit.

“Thanks, Rulue. I needed that after what happened earlier.”

“ **Sh-Shut up, Melody!** ”

_These three really are best friends…_

“So can we stay, Lidelle? _Please?_ ” Ally begged even more and even started using puppy-dog eyes on me.

**_GAH!_ ** _Why is she so cute?!_

“Oh, alright. You guys can stay.” I said, giving in to the situation.

“ **YAY!** ” Amitie and Ally cheered as they came and hugged me as tight as they could with tears falling down from the former.

“ **THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, LIDELLE!!! I OWE YOU MY LIFE FOR THIS!!!** ” Amitie cheered while amidst in a crying state.

Hearing this, to me was…heartwarming in a huge way. For years, I’ve always depended on other people to get by. But ever since Amitie moved here, I’ve felt like my life has changed for the better. I’ve got more friends than I could count, and even have a girlfriend. (oddly enough, I wasn’t even gay before meeting Ally.) So doing this for Amitie, I feel like I actually owe her more than she owes me.

“You’re welcome. Amitie.” I said.

 

I took Amitie, Arle, Peruvis, and the twins to my room while the adults stayed out front. About an hour later, Raffina, Feli, Amira, and Lily came over and while the latter two stayed out front, we told Raffina and Feli what happened. And they were just as shocked as me.

“Th-That’s…unreal. How can anyone be **THAT** evil?” Feli asked.

“I can’t believe that damn bastard would go **THIS** far to hurt you, Ami! **I’M GOING TO MAKE HIM PAY FOR THIS!!!** ” Raffina shouted.

“Trust me, Raffina. We all want to. But we need a way to defeat the Red Puyo Hat, first.” Peruvis said.

“Right. So you guys said it’s a demonic assassin?”

“That’s what Tarutaru and Zoh said.” Amitie said.

“Zoh?”

“A friend of mine from my world. Me, Ally, and Lidelle met up with him at the beach and he found his way to town.” Arle explained.

“He also owns the Puyo Hats, apparently.” Ally added.

“He **OWNS** the Puyo Hats?! Does he know how they got here?”

“Not exactly. He says they just disappeared one day, and thinks the Red one is to blame.”

“Oh. Of curse it is.” Raffina looked slightly pissed off. “ _sigh._ I honestly thought we were done messing around with that damn hat.”

“I know. It’s all my fault.” Amitie said. “If I haven’t put it on my head that day, we probably wouldn’t be going through this right now.”

“No, Ami! It’s not your fault!” Raffina yelled.

“The only person to blame here is that inhumane psychopath you used to call your father.” Peruvis added.

“Trust us, Ami. We’ll destroy that hat and keep you safe. We’re all here for you.” Ally said.

“ _Onee-chan’s right, Ami._ ” Rafisol said.

Amitie did let out a few more tears, but then she looked at us with an average sized smile on his face.

“You guys…thank you.” She said. It was somewhat hard to understand with her crying, but we all knew what she said.

“So how do we stop this thing? What’s our plan?” Ally asked.

I then looked at Arle and she looked at me. Judging on the look on her face, I can tell that she had the same idea as me.

“W-Well…there is someone we could ask for help.” I said.

“Really? Who?” Raffina asked.

“Uh…me and Arle will go look for this person. We don’t want too many people to come along.”

“Y-Yeah. We still need to protect Amitie.” Arle added.

“Well, alright. We’ll wait here then.”

“Great. We’ll be back soon.”

As me and Arle headed for the door, I felt a hand grab my arm. And I turned to see it was Ally’s.

“Lidelle. Is it… _that_ guy?” She whispered.

_I knew she’ll catch on._

“Yeah. It’s _that_ guy.”

“I see. Good luck.”

“ _sigh_. Thanks, Ally. We’re gonna need it.”

Ally then let go of my arm and me and Arle headed outside to find someone that could hopefully help us out in this situation.

Emphasis on the word _hopefully_.

 

“So where did Satan run off to after Yumi dealt with him?” Arle asked.

“Mother made him stay in Primp, since he can’t be trusted in your world by himself.”

“I see. Well, at least people over there won’t be bothered by him anymore.”

“Now it’s to wonder if he’ll behave over here.”

“Still, I can’t believe you’re his little sister. How old is Satan?”

“Uh…well…he’s…100,014.”

“ **WHOA, WHOA, WHOA! WHAT?!** **HE’S 100,014-YEARS-OLD?!** ”

“Why are you so shocked? He **_is_** the demon king. He has to had lived a long time.”

“Yeah, but… **THAT** long?! It now makes it extremely creepy that he keeps chasing after me. All the times he keeps calling me his fiancé and saying that we’ll have our honeymoon underneath the starry-night sky…I feel so violated now. Me, a 16-year-old girl, together with a guy that old…just thinking about it makes me uncomfortable.”

Arle was literally shaking all over. She looked extremely nervous and jittery, and she looked like she was about to cry.

“A-Arle! I-I-I’m sorry for telling you that!” I panicked.

“No, it’s okay, Lidelle. At least I have someone to love that’s my age.”

“O-Okay then. Well, would it help if I told you my age?”

“Huh? Aren’t you 15?”

“ _Well…_ no. I’m actually 50,009-years-old.”

…

Arle went dead silent. Then she fainted and nearly fell to the ground when I caught her at the last second on her back with my arms hold her waist.

“Arle? Arle?! Wake up, Arle! **Arle!** ” I was yelling in her face while slapping her cheeks every once in a while.

“Lidelle? What are you doing out here?” I heard someone talk to me. I looked up from Arle’s face to see Satan walking up to me.

“ **Satan! Arle just passed out! Help me!** ”

“Hold on. Let me get something.”

Satan reaching into his pocket and brought out a weird bottle of water, poured some into his hand, and splashed it on Arle’s face. Within seconds, Arle woke up. And when she saw the person in front of her…

***terrified scream***

…she jumped up and hide behind my back in uneasiness.

“Arle? What’s wrong?” Satan asked.

“ **G-Get away from me! You pervy old man!** ”

“Pervy old man?! What are you…”

“Hehhehhehheh…” I nervously laughed a little.

“Lidelle…what did you do?”

“W-Well…I **_may_** have told her our ages and…”

“You did **WHAT?!** ”

“Sorry! I didn’t think she would react like that!”

“ _sigh._ Well it doesn’t matter. I’ve given up on her anyway.”

“Wait…what?” Me and Arle asked.

“I said I gave up on you, Arle. You don’t have to worry about me bothering you ever again.”

From the look on her face, Arle wasn’t buying it.

“How can I believe you, Satan?” She asked.

“I don’t really care if you do or not. While being here, I had some time to think to myself. This charade of you being my fiancé is a total waste of my time. I could be doing something way better than being, how you said, _a pervy old man_.”

“W-Wow, Satan. Y-You really do meant it. If that’s how it is, then I believe you.”

I admit, I was shocked too. The fact that Satan said something so serious and mature for once…it blew my mind away. It honestly made me respect him a little more. But I’m going to tell him that. Not yet, at least.

“So what are you two doing here, anyway?” Satan asked.

“Oh, right. Well it all started like this…”

***ONE VERY LONG EXPLINATION LATER***

“And that’s when we thought you might know something about it, so we came looking for you.” I said.

“Hm…the Red Puyo Hat. It sounds familiar. Like I’ve heard of it before.”

“Didn’t Dad tell you anything about it?”

“Now that I think about it…there’s a book about infamous demons back at the house. You could check there.”

“Sounds like a good start.” Arle said.

“Yeah, it does. But why can’t you come and find it?” I asked.

“Because I’m busy with plans for my _Sweet Home_!”

“Your what?”

“ _Hey, Satan. You better not do anything that would mess up this peaceful town._ ” Arle said.

“What makes you think I would?”

“Do I really need to say it?”

“Do worry, Arle. Satan knows that if he does, Mother will get him for it.” I said to her.

“Well, aren’t you the perfect child.” Satan said sarcastically.

“Well, anyway…thanks for the advice, Satan.” Arle said.

“I’ll tell Mother you’re doing fine.” I said.

“Do as you wish.” Satan said before flying off.

“Hey, Arle. Could you not tell anyone about our real ages? I fear that they’ll freak out just as much as you did.”

“Sure, Lidelle. I understand. Your secrets safe with me.”

“Thanks a lot. Now let’s get back to the others and see if we can find that book.”

“Right! Let’s go!”

“Geez, I wish you were Ally right now. I want to said _get intimate_ and piss her off.”

“You still find that funny?”

“Yeah. And getting punched in the stomach is worth it.”

“You two are weird.”

“And you and Sig aren’t?”

“ _Hey…_ ”

“Alright, alright.”

We both headed back for my house to meet up with the others and to tell them what Satan had told us. When we got to town, we kept hearing a noise that was getting closer to us. I even recognized the noise. It was…

“Poochy?”

“ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“Wh-What’s wrong, boy? What’s got you so panicked?”

“ _ARF ARF!_ _ARF! ARF_ _ARF ARF!_ _ARF ARF!_ ”

“ **WHAT?!** ”

“What did he say?” Arle asked.

“ **He said there’s a weird and crazy hat attacking the house!** ”

“Weird and crazy hat… **THE RED PUYO HAT! IT MUST’VE FOUND OUR HIDING SPOT!** ”

“ **AMITIE’S IN DANGER! POOCHY! IS EVERYONE STILL HOME?!** ”

“ _ARF!_ ”

“ **Great! Come on, Arle!** ”

“ **Right!** ”

We followed Poochy all the way back to my house to help out everyone. We can only hope that Amitie’s still okay…

…or better yet, still alive.

**Raffina’s POV**

 

“ **GAH!** ” I shouted as I was slammed against the wall by sheer force of extreme power. I could barley move. I was in so much pain. I’m pretty sure I have a few broken bones. But I’ve gotta get back up! There’s no way in hell I can admit defeat!

Not when this is happening.

“ **RAFFINA!!!** ” I could hear everyone yell my name with deep worries as I struggled to get back up.

“ **Miss Raffina! You shouldn’t get back up!** ” Lily said as she rushed to my aid.

“B-But Lily…I must…I must p-pro…tect Ami…!”

“ **But you’re deeply hurt right now! Continuing to fight would only make it worse!** ”

“B-But…”

“ _Listen to the old hag, child._ ”

“ **T-The hat talked?!** ” Feli asked.

“ **WHO ARE YOU CAILING AN OLD HAG?!?!?** ” Lily shouted.

“ _No mortal has ever battled me and survived. I always complete my mission. And I’m not going to let a bunch of nuisance teens get in my way._ ”

“ **WELL, WE’RE NOT GONNA LET YOU KILL AMI, YOU DEMONIC PSYCHOPATH!!!** ” Ally shouted.

“ _Ha! Go ahead and try, mortal! It’ll be a good sight to see you **ALL** buried six feet under with Amitie!_ ”

“ **I’ll make you regret saying that! MELODY SCALE!** ” Ally casted a strange spell that I’ve never seen before. A bunch of musical notes spawned out of her hand and attacked the Red Puyo Hat, exploding on contact. When the smoke cleared, we saw that the hat was still standing.

“ _Is that all you got? Pathetic._ ”

“ **Grr…You ready, Sis?** ”

“ _Ready, Onee-chan._ ” Rafisol said.

“ **LOVE SHINE!** ”

“ _DISORDER!_ ”

While Ally used her heart trick from earlier, this was the first time I’ve seen Rafisol use any of her spells. She formed an electric ball with her hands and shot it at the hat along with Ally’s heart attack.

Both did absolutely nothing, as the hat was still there.

It then start to glow as it begun floating on its own. A black ball of energy formed from it, and it soon shot it at the twins. Both started going down with extreme electrical shocks…but not before the hat teleported to them, grew a pair of huge black arms, and did a rapid fury of punches towards them. Then it slammed them to the ground, where neither of them moved.

“ **ALLY! RAFISOL!** ” Ami shouted in fear.

“ **DAMN YOU, YOU CRAZY HAT!** ” Peruvis yelled. “ **I’LL MAKE YOU PAY!** ”

“ _Oh really? I never had the honor of killing a tortured soul. This will be fun, indeed._ ”

“ **SHUT UP! I’LL KILL YOU RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!** ”

“ _You’re being real cocky if you think you even have a 0.000001% chance of beating me, non-existing soul._ ”

“I could say the same thing about you, Sphinx.” Phoenix said.

“ _Phoenix…it’s been a while. Who would’ve thought the most powerful soul in the universe would be stuck inside the body of a weak, spineless, mortal?_ ”

_Wait! Phoenix **KNOWS** the demon inside the hat?!_

“Damn. I thought this guy was gone for good.” Peruvis said.

“He must’ve found a way to possess the Red Puyo Hat. That hat’s power mixed up with his…”

“ **I don’t care! I’ve beaten him once, I’ll do it again!** ”

“ **WAIT! YOU IDIOT!** ” Phoenix tried to stop her, but before he could, the hat did a huge swipe at Peruvis. It swung her back far and she hit the wall, sliding down next to the twins as her shirt started to get bloody from the deep cuts on her stomach.

“ **Damnit, kid! I told you to wait!** ” Phoenix shouted.

“S-Sorry…Ph-Phoenix.” Peruvis barely said with her injuries.

“Save your energy, kid. You need it more than me right now.”

“R-Right…”

“ _NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! The sight of mortals being on their last breaths is a beautiful picture! But a better one would be… **A BUNCH OF BLOODY DEAD CORPSES!!!**_ ”

Hearing that, it made me rage a hell a lot than normal. So much, that I started getting up, despite my injuries, and stood in a slouched state of pain.

“ **M-Miss Raffina! Wh-What are you doing?!** ” Lily asked.

“ _I…won’t…lose._ ”

“ **Don’t be an idiot, Raffina! You’re in too much pain!** ” Amira shouted.

“ _I…won’t…lose._ ”

“ **Raffina! Please! I don’t want to lose you!** ” Feli shouted.

“ _I…won’t…lose._ ”

I ignored all of their pleas as I walked over towards the hat. I was filled with so much rage. For months, this god damn hat has made my girlfriend’s life a living nightmare, and now it thinks it can come over and take her away from me?!

“ _This hat…this f****** hat… **I WILL END YO…**_ ”

I was suddenly stopped in my tracks by Ami, who stood in front of me with her arms spread out in my face. Her eyes were red, swollen, and filled with tears. Looking at this…it made me froze in utter sadness. I haven’t seen this look on her face since the day we almost died in Nahe Forest. Now it hurts to even see it, physically and mentally.

“ _A-Ami…what are you…_ ”

“Raffi. Please stop. I don’t want to see you get even more hurt.”

“ _B-But Ami…_ ”

“No. Enough is enough.” Ami then turned to face the Red Puyo Hat. The same hat that has made her life a living hell from the day she encountered it.

“Hey! Listen! I…surrender.”

“Wha… **WHAT?!?!?** ” The rest of us yelled.

“I surrender. You can kill me all you want. Just please…leave my friends and family alone.”

“ _Excellent. Glad to see you’ve accepted your fate, Amitie. Your father would’ve been proud._ ”

“Amitie…” I said.

“Yeah, sure. But can we do this somewhere else? I don’t want anyone here to see me die.”

“ _It’s the least I can do…for making my job a lot easier._ ”

“ **Amitie!** ” Melody yelled.

“I’m sorry, Mommy. But this is the only way. It’s either me, or all of you. I’ve done enough damage to you all and this town.” Ami then faced me again. This time, will full tears running down her face. She gave me a full fledge kiss on my mouth then parted away from me, stepping back a few feet.

“Raffina…Mommy…everyone…this is goodbye. Thanks you all for the great memories.”

“Ami…w-wait…!” I tied to say.

“ _Let us go now, my child. Your death awaits._ ” The hat said as grabbed hold of Amitie and flew off, making a hole in the ceiling in the process.

“ **AMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!** ” I shouted as I fell to the ground in extreme despair and sadness.

_No! It can’t be! She didn’t just do that! Ami…sacrificed her life…for our safety! No! No! **NOOOOOOOO! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!!! AMI! MY LOVE! WHY DID YOU DO THIS?! WHY, WHY, WHYYYYYYYYY?!?!?!?**_

“ **G-GUYS! WH-WHAT HAPPENED?!** ”

“ **W-WAS THAT AMITIE BEING FLOWN OFF IN THE SKY?!** ”

Just then, Lidelle and Arle ran inside the house and saw the damage the hat had caused.

“ _I-It…it took her…_ ” Ally suddenly raised her head up and spoke.

“Huh?” Both girls asked.

“ _T-The…Red Puyo Hat…Ami s-surrendered…t-to it…and it t-took her away…t-to kill her somewhere else._ ”

“Oh, no!” Lidelle yelled.

“We’re too late!” Arle yelled.

“H-Hey, Lidelle. Wh-What did…y-your brother say?” Ally asked as she was now on my level.

“Right. He said there’s a book here somewhere that’s explains more of the Red Puyo Hat, and maybe how to defeat it.”

“Everyone! Let’s look for that book!” Arle yelled.

“Right!” We said.

While Lidelle, Arle, Yumi, and Amira looked for the book, Me, Peruvis, and Rafisol were being healed by Ally. Apparently her heart trick can heal injuries as well. It healed her and Rafisol’s injuries and closed off Peruvis’ deep cuts on her stomach, but my injuries…they were too sever to heal completely. Only my broken bones were healed. My bruises and internal injuries were still present, making it hard for me to move.

“Miss Raffina. You shouldn’t be moving so much. You’re still badly injured.” Lily said to me.

“ **I can’t, Lily! I need to rescue Ami!** ”

“But you experienced what that hat could to you! If you go up against it again, you’re sure to die!”

“ **I don’t care! As long as I could see Ami again, I’m willing to die for her!** ”

“Miss Raffina…”

“ **WE FOUND IT!** ” Lidelle said as she rushed into the living room with a big red book in her hands. She slammed it on the ground and started flipping through the pages in rapid speed.

“So this book has something that can help us find and rescue Ami?” Ally asked.

“Uh…let me see… **HERE IT IS!** ” Lidelle stopped on a page containing a picture of the Red Puyo Hat. The picture itself was really disturbing. It showed the hat, but with a black shadow-like creature popping out of it. It looked like Phoenix, but it had bloody white claws and traces of blood all over its body. Its eyes were pale white with no life in them. All and all, this was not a good picture to look at.

“It says here: _The Red Puyo Hat was once the cause of granting the true dreams of the wearer. But years ago, it was stolen from the Royal Temple and corrupted of its power by an evil entity named Sphinx. He used the power of the hat combined with his own for his true dream. To kill every human in the known universes. Fortunately his plans were stopped, and he was sealed away forever inside the hat. Unfortunately, the true power of the Red Puyo Hat is now gone forever._ ” Lidelle read the page.

“Whoa…the Red Puyo Hat wasn’t always so evil.” Arle said.

“Granting the true dreams of the wearer…that sounds like a nice power.” Ally said.

“Too bad it’s gone forever, though.” Feli said.

“Hey, Phoenix. You actually said the thing’s name earlier. You know this Sphinx guy or something?” I asked.

“Yeah, I do.” Phoenix answered. “Sphinx is an evil and cold-hearted soul. He’s always had a fixation for killing, and loved drinking the blood of his victims. He always craved more power so the kills he does can become more enjoyable. So he stole the Red Puyo Hat, the most powerful of the five, and corrupted its power to use it to kill every human in universe. I was sent out by the Demon King, who was Lidelle’s father at the time, to defeat him. I did, but not before he killed most of the humans.”

“Most of the humans?” Lidelle asked.

“Very few of them managed to survive Sphinx’s massacre, and were able to live normal, peaceful lives. One of those people…”

“…Was me.” Peruvis added.

“ **WHAT?!?!** ” We shouted.

“I was 4-years-old when Sphinx attacked my hometown. My entire family was killed in the attack, and I was about to die myself, but then Phoenix saved my life by possessing me. And I agreed to let him use the last bit of my life force to defeat Sphinx. Once that became a reality, Phoenix repaid me greatly. He someone managed to convince the Demon King to let him continue to posses me in order to keep me alive. That’s how I became a tortured soul.”

“W-Wow. Peruvis, I’m so sorry that happened to you.” I said.

“Thanks, Raffina. But it’s not all that bad. I’m living a normal live…well, somewhat normal. I have a new family, new friends, a new town to call home…it’s almost like it never happened. Almost.”

“I see. Well that’s good.”

“Well since you beat him before, Phoenix, can’t you do it again?” Ally asked.

“Unfortunately, no. With most of my power being used to keep Peruvis alive, I’m very limited with it. I’m weak now compared to him.”

“Damn. Now what?”

“Hold on, I’m reading the book more…” Lidelle said. “Here. It says: _It’s rumored that if all 5 hats are brought together, a strange and special power will be born. What exactly is this power…remains unknown._ ”

“A strange and special power?” Feli asked.

“When all the hats are brought together…?” Peruvis asked.

“Is that all it says?” Arle asked.

“Yeah, that’s it. Nothing else.”

“I see.”

_Bring the hats together…didn’t Yu mentioned something like that when we first met her and Rei? Something about not knowing what could happen? Well…if doing this is the only way to rescue Ami, then I don’t really have a choice._

“Hey, Peruvis. Let me see the Yellow Puyo Hat.” I said.

“Uh…sure, Raffina. What for?” Peruvis asked as she handed over the hat.

“What else? I’m going to bring them together!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up! Are you crazy?!”

“We have no idea what will happen if the hats are brought together!” Lidelle said.

“ **Well, ANYTHING is better than having Ami killed at this point! I’m going and if no one’s going to help me, then don’t bother stopping me!** ”

The room went dead silent right then and there. I didn’t have the time or patience to wait for a response, so I got up and headed for the front door. Before I left, I had to say something. Something important that I had to get off my chest.

“H-Hey. Lily, Amira.”

“Y-Yes, Miss Raffina?”

“Wh-What is it, little sis?”

“If I don’t make it back alive, tell Mom and Daddy…I forgive them.”

I then ran out the door with the Yellow Puyo Hat on my head, on my way to get the other three from the museum. I wasn’t sure how this would work out. My body was still in pain from the multiple bruises and internal injuries, I have no idea what will happen once all five are together again, and fighting Sphinx by myself is probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. But I’m doing this for Ami. All of this is for Ami.

_Ami! Hang in there! I’m coming to get you! **I WILL RESCUE YOU!!!**_

 

**Amitie’s POV**

 

“ ***sniff* *sob*** So this is how it ends for me, huh? Alone, cold, and depressed, about to be killed by a hat. I guess my life was a waste of human existence after all.”

“ _Yes, it is sad. Boo hoo. Now shut up already and stand up! You’ll suffer more like that._ ”

“O-Okay.” I did what the hat said and got up from the cold hard ground of this abandoned building it took us to. This was my last request before becoming a murdered bloody corpse on the ground. I didn’t want the others to see me being murdered. I rather die alone, where I won’t hurt anyone else anymore.

“ _NYAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I’ve waiting for **MONTHS** for this moment! Say goodbye, Amitie!_ ”

“ **W-Wait!** Th-There’s one thing I want to know first!”

“ _Oh, what now?_ ”

“Just answer me this….why? Why does my father hate me so much? Why did he summoned you and sent you here to kill me? I should at least know that, right?”

The hat went silent, possibly thinking about the second last request I just made.

“ _Hmm…I guess you have a point. Fine, I’ll tell you. But after this, I’m slitting your throat. Got it, blondie?_ ”

“Y-Yes. I-I got it.” I said, still in fear.

“ _Well, when your father summoned me, the first thing I noticed about him was…how weak and pathetic he was._ ”

“Huh?”

“ _The crappy excuse of a mortal was crying his worthless eyes out from the torture he’s been receiving from being in prison for the rest of his life. Bruises all over his body and bloodstains from the multiple cuts he gains. An eye swollen shut and extremely weak from starvation. It was the best thing I’ve ever seen! And so worth the wait! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!_ ”

“W-Wait…wh-what?” I asked.

“ _sigh. You still don’t get it?! Man, blondes really are morons!_ ” The hat got angry.

“G-Get what?”

“ _Your father never attacked you and your mom on his own! I possessed him and made him do it! I blackened his soul, making him forget he ever had a family, and forced him to murder the two people he cared about for my own amusement!_ ”

“Wh-Wh- **WHAT?!** ” I shouted.

“ _But that weak, spineless, idiot couldn’t even do **THAT** right! I found out you both were still alive, and tracked you down to this dump so that I can finally finish the both of you off!_ ”

I fell to the floor on my knees and started crying. I couldn’t believe what I just heard. My mother dying, my father rotting in prison, me living in fear for the past year…all of that was caused by a hat! A god damn hat! And now because of the same reason, I’m going to die! I’m going to be killed by a hat because it tricked Dad into assaulting me and Mom! It made us believe that he was evil! I’m such an idiot for believing this whole thing from the very start! And now I’m about to pay the ultimate price!

“ _Alright! Storytime’s over! Say your prayers, Amitie! Because you’re about to become the next victim in my murderess blood-thirsty rampage!!! NYAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!_ ”

“ **LIKE HELL I’M GONNA LET THAT HAPPEN!!!** ”

_Th-That voice…I know that voice all too well. It can’t be…is it really her?!_

“ _Aw, come on! What now?!_ ” The hat yelled.

There she was, barely standing on her own two feet from her injuries, ready to fight this evil hat again! My hero! My savior! My true love!

“ **RAFFI!!!** ” I cheered.

“ _Well, well. If it isn’t the pink-haired nympho. I thought you learned your lesson by me sparring your life, but I guess you’re just as retarded as blondie here._ ”

“ **SHUT THE HELL UP! I HEARD EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID TO HER! YOU’RE A SICK, TWISTED, AND COLD-HEARTED ENTITY! I WON’T LET YOU LAY A FINGER ON MY AMI, SPHINX!** ”

“Sphinx?” I asked. “Who’s that?”

“ _So you learned my true identity, huh Pinky? I’m shocked. I thought you had zero brain cells in that rich girl head of yours._ ”

“ **I SAID SHUT UP! I WILL DEFEAT YOU RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW! YOU WON’T KILL ANOTHER INNOCENT PERSON EVER AGAIN!** ”

The Red Puyo Hat then fell to the ground as something came out from it. It was a Phoenix look-a-like but with bloody white claws, traces of blood all over its body, and its eyes were pale white and looked like they had no life in them. I was shocked and horrified by the sight of it. It looked like the definition of an eternal nightmare.

_This thing…this thing was inside the hat this whole time?!_

“ _Well look at you being all brave and strong. But that’s really your cockiness showing. Every human has this trait, and it’s pitiful that they believe it’s them being brave. **IDIOTS! MORONS! DUMBASSES! ALL OF YOU MORTALS ARE THE DAMN SAME! THE WORLD WILL BE BETTER OFF ONCE I KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU NUISANCES! AND I’LL START WITH YOU, PINKY!**_ ”

The entity now known as Sphinx charged at Raffina and flung her up in the air with a big swipe of his claws. As Raffina spun in the air, drops of her blood can be seeing falling from the deep cuts on her stomach. Amazingly though, she landed on both her feet and stood back up after a few seconds.

I was getting scared. That swipe would’ve and should’ve killed a person almost instantaneously, yet Raffina was still standing. She looked extremely weak. The injuries and massive blood loss was starting to affect her bad. She was breathing heavily from the last attack. But she looked like she wasn’t giving up.

“ _I…I…Is that…a-a…all…you got?”_ She said.

“ ** _Is that a challenge, you damn brat?! I’LL MAKE YOU REGRET THOSE FINAL WORDS!!!_** ”

Sphinx then did a multitude of punches and swipes at Raffina and then slammed her to the ground. A bloody puddle surrounded her body as she tried to get up.

“ **RAFFI! PLEASE! STAY DOWN! YOU SHOUDN’T RISK YOUR LIFE BECAUSE OF ME!** ” I shouted at her.

“ _I suggest you listen to Blondie, Pinky. Or don’t, I don’t care. **I’LL KILL YOU BOTH IN MERE SECONDS ANYWAY!!! NYAHAHAHAHAHA!!!**_ ”

“ **HEY! SPHINX!** ”

Another voice I recognized spoke out. I then saw Peruvis walking up towards us, with Phoenix coming from her back, both filled with rage.

“ _Well, well, well. Phoenix and little Peruvis. It’s been a while since our last battle. My how well you’ve grown, girly._ ”

“ **SHUT IT, YOU ABOMINATION!** ” Peruvis shouted.

“ **How did you break the seal of the hat?!** ” Phoenix asked.

“ _I have my ways. And it doesn’t matter, anyway! The point is that I’m back! And ready to continue my dream of wiping out humanity from existence! And with you two sharing power, you can’t stop me like last time! **NYAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!**_ ”

Peruvis then dug around Raffina’s pockets and took out something I didn’t even know she had in the first place.

“Maybe we can’t… **BUT THESE WILL!!!** ” she yelled as she held up the Yellow Puyo Hat.

“ **YOU’RE SCREWED, SPHINX!!!** ” Phoenix yelled as he held up the Blue, Green, and Purple Puyo Hats. All four hats started glowing and floating on their own as they formed a circle above their heads.

“ ** _WHAT?! THE OTHER FOUR HATS?! HOW DID YOU FIND THEM ALL?!_** ” Sphinx shouted.

Instead of giving an answer, the duo shot a weird-looking, but powerful beam at the entity. Wrapping him in an electric bound that paralyzed his movements as he slowly fell to the ground.

“ **NOW! SCHEZO!** ” Peruvis shouted.

“ **SHADOW EDGE!** ”

Schezo came out of nowhere and shot a bunch of sharp blue blades from his sword. They all struck Sphinx from the bottom where he was connected to the Red Puyo Hat, and the attack disconnected him from the hat. Sphinx fell to the ground, still paralyzed from the previous attack. The Red Puyo Hat started glowing as it floated back up and joined the other four hats in the center of the circle.

“Amitie! Are you alright?” Schezo asked me.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine. But extremely confused. Wh-What’s going on? H-How did you guys find me?”

“We’ll explain later. Right now, you need to help Peruvis and Phoenix.”

“H-Huh?! M-Me?! Wh-What can I do?!”

“ **Just trust me, Amitie! You, me, and Raffina! We need to defeat Sphinx together!** ” Peruvis shouted.

“B-But…”

“ _A-Ami…w-we can…d-do it. T-Together…_ ” Raffina said as she stood next to Peruvis.

“R-Raffi…”

“ **There’s no time to be concerned right now! This paralyze spell won’t last much longer!** ” Phoenix shouted.

With that rumbling through my mind, I knew I had no choice. Any longer, and Sphinx will be free again. We had to stop him. We had to defeat him. We had to save humanity from his wrath!

“O-Okay… **I’ll help!** ” I shouted as I ran towards the other two girls. I felt an intense power flow through my body as I started glowing a rainbow-like aura around me. For once in my life, I felt that all fear as left my body, mind, and soul.

I felt…reborn.

“ **Now on the count of three, you girls push your arms out as far as you can! Got it?!** ” Phoenix shouted.

“ **GOT IT!** ” All three of us said.

“ **1…2…3!!!** ”

We pushed our arms out with all the force we had in our bodies and aimed them at the fallen Sphinx.

“ **RAINBOW DELUXE!!!** ” We all shouted as a bigger, rainbow-like beam of light shot right from ours hands and blasted the shadow killer in the same spot where he was paralyzed.

“ ** _GAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! NOOOOOO!!! IT CAN’T END LIKE THIS!!! I STILL HAD MY DREAM TO ACHIEVE!!!_** ” Sphinx yelled.

“ **Your dream?! YOU DREAM?!** ” I shouted.

“ **YOUR DREAM IS EVERYONE ELSE’S NIGHTMARE!!!** ” Raffina shouted.

“ **AND FOR THAT, YOU WILL PAY!!!** ” Peruvis shouted.

“ **WE’LL END YOU!!!** ” We all shouted as the beam got bigger and powerful towards the entity.

“ ** _GAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!_** ” He shouted in pain as the beam eradicated him from existence, leaving only a black circle of ash on the spot where he used to be.

He was gone. Sphinx was gone. My nightmare is finally over.

_I’m free… **I’M FINALLY FREE!!! NO MORE WILL I LIVE IN FEAR!!! I’M FREEEEEEE!!!!!**_

The power from the hats wore off on us and we started calming down. Me and Peruvis were doing fine, Raffina on the other hand…once her power was gone, she collapsed on the floor and more blood started pouring out from her cuts on her body.

“ **RAFFI! RAFFI! PLEASE WAKE UP! RAFFI!!!** ” I shouted while constantly shaking her unconscious body.

“ **Hey look! The Puyo Hats!** ” Schezo shouted with his sword pointing up. the rest of us looked up to see that the Puyo Hats were still glowing the rainbow aura. The Blue, Green, Yellow, and Purple Hats were circling around the Red Hat. And soon, one by one, they were joining together. Absorbing their powers together into one, causing a huge glow to fill the room.

“ **WHAT’S HAPPENING?!** ” I asked.

“ **I DON’T KNOW!!!** ” Peruvis shouted.

The bright glow eventually subsided and what was left was mind-boggling. Instead of there being five Puyo Hats, there was only one. It wasn’t red. It wasn’t blue. It wasn’t green, yellow, or purple. It was a rainbow color, with multiple colors flowing on it. It started floating downwards towards us and it…it…landed on my head.

“Whoa…what is that?” Peruvis asked.

“I don’t know. But…it landed on my head. I hope it’s not stuck on me like last time.”

“ _Fear not, young Amitie. For I am removable this time._ ”

“ **H-Huh?! D-Did the hat just talk?!** ” I asked.

“ **I-It did, right?! W-We’re not just hearing things?!** ” Peruvis asked.

“ _No, you are not. I did just talk._ ”

“Woah…” We all said.

“ _I must thank you and apologize to you, Amitie. I am the past power that used to reside in the Red Puyo Hat. I was able to grant the dreams of who ever wore me. Dreams of pureness and harmony. That is until Sphinx, ruler of the now extinct species of demons know as Psycho-demons, stole me from the Royal Temple, and corrupted my powers. And as a means of keeping me in his grasps, he scattered the other Puyo Hats. As they were the only way to free me from him._ ”

“I see.” Phoenix said. “So when I sealed Sphinx inside the hat…”

“ _Right. He then took full control of me, and continued his murderess massacre._ ”

“Damn!”

“We screwed up big, huh?” Peruvis asked.

“ _I’m afraid so. But thanks to you all, I have been freed from Sphinx’s imprisonment, and reunited with the other hats._ ”

“So this special power that happens when all five are together…is this…?”

“ _Yes. This is the special power, the Rainbow Puyo Hat. It can do all the powers the five separate hats could do on their own, but they help humanity instead of hurting it._ ”

“Whoa…”

“I’ve gotta admit. That’s pretty impressive…for a hat.” Schezo said.

“ _Yes. And now I’m entrusting these five powers to you, Amitie._ ”

“ **H-Huh?! Wh-What?! W-Why me?!** ” I asked.

“ _It is my way of apologizing for everything I did while under Sphinx’s control. These powers will help you live out the rest of your life how it should’ve been for the past year…in peace._ ”

“I-In…In peace…”

“ _Yes. In peace. And now I must go. I’m…running out of…life force._ ”

“ **W-WAIT! B-BEFORE YOU GO!** C-Can you help my friend?”

“ _Just hold her hand, and wish for her to be better. That is the way._ ”

“That’s it?”

“ _That’s it. And now I go. Thank you again for freeing me. I truly hope you live in peace for now on._ ”

“Okay! Thanks for the help!” I said. But this time I didn’t get a response. The voice of the Red Puyo Hat had disappeared forever, leaving me with its body. With powers that will help me live in the peace I truly desired. I then walked over towards Raffina, grabbed her hand, and did what the hat told me to do.

“Raffi…please get well. Please feel better. Please be with me, forever and ever.”

We both started glowing as I felt my strange new power working on me. A bunch of sparkles came out of Raffina as she started moving slowly. Until finally, she came back to. As she opened her eyes. Her beautiful eyes that I would never see again.

“A-Ami?”

“Yes, Raffi. It’s me, Ami. I’m still alive.”

“A…A…A…”

“ **AMI!!!!** ”

“ **RAFFI!!!!** ”

We both hugged each other and flooded our faces with tears of pure happiness. I truly thought I was never going to see my girlfriend ever again. Knowing that I was wrong was probably the best moment of my life!

“Hey, guys. Not to break up your reunion and all, but we should really get back to the others.” Peruvis said.

“Yes. Now that this Sphinx guy has been _pounded out of this world_ , I bet everyone will be glad that you have _come for them_ safely.” Schezo said.

…

…

…

“U-Uh, S-Schezo…” I said.

“Please. Just don’t. I already know.”

 

We all headed back to Lidelle’s house where everyone was waiting for us to return. Needless to say, there were some tears when they saw that I has come back with everybody.

Due to the Rainbow Puyo Hat’s powers, Raffina’s injuries no longer hurt her. But they were still visible, so she still had to go to the hospital. While there, Peruvis and I explained to everyone what really happened. By that, I mean what Sphinx had said before Raffina showed up, how I got the Rainbow Puyo Hat, and what it said before its spirit went away forever.

“W-Woah…th-that’s…unsettling.” Lidelle said.

“S-So this whole time…it was Sphinx who wanted to kill you?” Arle asked.

“A-And he possessed your father so that everyone would blame him for it?” Ally asked.

“Yeah. That’s the truth.” I said.

“Oh, God…y-your father’s in prison for the rest of his life…all because he was possessed. And we couldn’t tell the difference. I feel so horrible…” Mom was really letting herself have it. She started crying because in her mind, the man that she fell in love with was forced to hurt us under the control of a Psycho-Demon. That’s when I hugged her in an attempt to calm her down.

“Mom, it’s okay. I’m sure once we explain everything, they’ll let Dad go.”

“It won’t be that easy, Amitie.” Lidelle said.

“Lidelle’s right. Even if you do prove that your dad was possessed by a demon, they’re not gonna just release him like nothing happened.” Peruvis said.

“Oh, yeah.” I sounded sad.

“Well, we can still visit him Ami. How about day before school starts?” Mom asked.

“S-Sure, Mom. I’d like that a lot.” I grew a smile on my face, knowing that soon I’ll be able apologize to Dad for what happened.

“Miss Amitie…” Lily called me. “Miss Raffina is out of surgery. Would you like to see her?”

“Oh, yeah. I do. Thanks, Lily.”

I walked over to the room where Raffina was and knocked on the door very gently, then waited for a response.

“Come in.” I heard her say. I opened the door slowly and walked inside the room.

“Hey, Raffi.”

“Ami! You came!”

“ ***giggle*** Of course I did. I wouldn’t be a good girlfriend if I didn’t.”

“ ***giggle*** Yeah, true.”

“So how you feeling?” I asked as I stood next to her bed.

“Well, besides the multiple bandages on my arms, legs, head, and stomach, I’m completely fine.”

“Yep. You look fine to me.”

“Yep. Completely unharmed.”

We both laughed off the conversation and after a few seconds calmed down while hugging each other. It was kinda hard for us to do it, so I just got on the bed with her. It may not be allowed, but I don’t care. I deserve this moment.

“Thanks for coming to rescue me, Raffi.”

“Thanks for saving my life, Ami.”

“Well, it wasn’t just me. This Rainbow Puyo Hat healed you up. All I did was wish for you to be with me forever and ever.”

“Well, that wish already came true.”

We brought our heads closer and connected them in a deep, long, passionate kiss. Unlike pass make out sessions, this one was truly special. As this was the first one of many to come in my new life.

“I love you, Ami.”

“I love you too, Raffi.”

May we both live in peace.                  

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Love of Puyo Puyo CHU!!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15727218) by [R_Fielding](https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_Fielding/pseuds/R_Fielding)




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